Summer School Success: Rail Decarbonisation

Postgraduate researchers from 11 UK universities came together to propose a decarbonisation plan for the Birmingham-Peterborough rail line. The last week of July saw the Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education at the University of Birmingham host the 2023 Birmingham Decarbonisation Summer School. The summer school brought together postgraduate researchers from 11 UK universities to team up and propose a decarbonisation plan for the Birmingham-Peterborough rail line, which serves Cross Country passenger trains and incoming freight traffic from Felixstowe. "The main aim of the summer school was introducing the challenges of rail decarbonisation to postgraduate researchers who do not necessarily have a background in rail" said Rabee Jibrin, the summer school's lead organiser and PhD candidate in rail decarbonisation and optimisation at the University of Birmingham. Collaborating with fellow doctoral and postdoctoral researchers from diverse backgrounds allowed us to exchange ideas, share experiences, and build lasting connections in the field of decarbonisation. Abdullah Zaheer, a participating PhD candidate from Loughborough University The format of the summer school involved two days of seminars focused on rail, followed by two days for teams to work on their proposals, leading to the final day of pitching proposals to a judging panel. "It was designed to familiarise postgraduate researchers with rail and offer them a window into the world of technical consulting at the same time.