Clare Hall, University of Cambridge Summer Visiting Student Program Report

2023 Academic Year
Giwangkara Ricky Perdana:PhD candidate, Department of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo

Video Report (on-campus only)

RCAST - Clare Hall Visiting Program 2023 (Giwangkara Ricky).mp4

Schedule

28 - 29 June 2023
Departing from Tokyo and Arriving at Cambridge

2 - 7 July 2023
Ignite Programme, Cambridge Judge Business School

Ignite Programme is an entrepreneurship training program held by Cambridge Judge Business School. This program gathered delegates from several countries to learn about entrepreneurship skills and share their business plans. The delegates came from academics and industry with different backgrounds and fields. Some delegates wanted to improve the business plan for their start-up companies. The other delegates were researchers who wanted to commercialize their research innovations. They could consult their business plan with entrepreneurship experts and professionals. They were invited to give lectures and share their experiences. The program was designed to train people to turn their ideas and business innovations into commercial reality.

In this program, I met people with various expertise outside of my field and from different countries. I learned many things from their stories and experiences. I acquired academic and technical knowledge and cultural understanding in different countries. This program was my first time experiencing and learning about entrepreneurship, especially from my research activity. It never came to my mind that my research could be beneficial to commerce. Through this training program, I learned from the lectures, discussed with group members, and got feedback from the group’s mentor. At the end of the program, I could develop my research topic into a business plan and deliver my idea in the pitching panel presentation. Since my research topic relates to renewable energy, I presented a business plan for calculating and simulating renewable energy systems as Software as a Service (SaaS). I was so glad I could participate in this program and meet the delegates, mentors, lecturers, and experts. I learned a lot and felt grateful to all of them.

10 July 2023
Maxwell Centre, Energy Interdisciplinary Research Centre (Energy @ Cambridge)

Maxwell Centre hosts several institutes at the University of Cambridge. This facility facilitates research collaboration between academic and industry. In the Maxwell Centre, I visited Energy @ Cambridge, a University of Cambridge Interdisciplinary Research Centre that associates the activities of the University of Cambridge’s 250 academics working in energy-related research aspects. I met Dr. Shafiq Ahmed, the Strategic Research Initiative Coordinator of Energy @ Cambridge.

Through the discussion with Dr. Shafiq, I learned how the University of Cambridge conducts research in the field of renewable energy. The University of Cambridge is huge, and the departments are scattered all over the city. Each department may have research related to renewable energy. When the researchers need to collaborate, it may be difficult to coordinate with each department. Energy @ Cambridge was initiated as a hub and linking the researchers in each department. It also bridges academia and industry in the field of renewable energy for the application and commercialization of research innovations. I was also introduced to the Impulse–Maxwell Centre program, which is similar to the Ignite Programme, but it is more intensive and longer around 3 months.

It was quite unfortunate that I could not meet other researchers in Energy @ Cambridge due to their business trip plans and summer vacation season. Because of that, I could not visit the laboratories and facilities in the institute. Overall, I acquired new knowledge from the poster publications throughout the institute and from discussions with Dr. Shafiq.

11 July 2023
Imperial College London, Photonic Research Groups

I visited Imperial College London with my fellow from The University of Tokyo. He had connections with the Photonic Research Groups there. We visited the laboratory where they made samples, built the equipment, and experimented with laser and photonic devices. It was quite different from my field, but I found it fascinating how photonic devices and lasers can be utilized for various purposes.

12 and 18 July 2023
Cambridge Graphene Centre

Cambridge Graphene Centre is an institution at the University of Cambridge for investigating the science and technology of graphene, carbon allotropes, layered crystals, and hybrid nanomaterials. I visited different laboratories and groups in Cambridge Graphene Centre on different separate days with my fellow who got in contact with professors and researchers there. Some laboratories could perform experiments similar to my current laboratory at The University of Tokyo related to manufacturing samples of materials. Even though I am not an expert in this field, I can relate the research activities there to the renewable energy field.

23 July 2023
University College London

I got a chance to visit the University College London to meet my fellow Indonesian friend who studies as PhD student there. Since we are in different fields of study, we only discussed the differences between PhD students’ lives in Japan and the UK. There are not many differences in the PhD research activity in both places. From the discussion, I found that most UK universities require bench fees for PhD students or researchers working in their institutions. The fees are like a deposit and can be used for students' research activities like a research fund. I never knew about the fees like this in Japan. Learning something new about the culture or university system in different countries felt good.

24 July 2023
King’s College London

I visited King’s College London to discuss with a fellow Indonesian researcher there. He was a visiting researcher at the Department of Geography, King’s College London. He is an expert in the field of remote sensing. We discussed the application of remote sensing in estimating renewable energy potentials like solar, wind, and hydropower. The discussion was valuable for my research progress to predict the wind and solar energy potential.

26 July 2023
Leaving Clare Hall Cambridge

27 - 28 July 2023
Departing from London and Arriving back at Tokyo

Free Schedule
Visiting museums managed by the University of Cambridge

On free schedule days, I visited several museums at the University of Cambridge such as The Fitzwilliam Museum, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences, University Museum of Zoology, and The Polar Museum. It was a good and fun way to learn new knowledge outside of my field of study. I learned different things from the visits. I found it impressive that all researchers at the University of Cambridge worked so hard to gather the collection in the museums and give the information to society.

Testimonial Staying at Clare Hall Cambridge Experience

At Clare Hall, I stayed at the Brian Pippard Building. I felt so welcomed by anyone in the porters’ lodge and the fellow members in the Brian Pippard Building from the first time I arrived. They kindly supported me in adapting to living in Cambridge. The students were very nice to have some talk whenever I met them in the shared kitchen. I also participated in the formal dinner at Clare Hall. I interacted with Dr. Juan, a research fellow at Clare Hall, and his wife. They were very welcoming and shared their experience, research, story, and culture during the dinner. It was a very great talk.

Clare Hall Cambridge visiting activity was my first experience coming to the UK. It was an exciting and valuable experience for me. Clare Hall and the University of Cambridge gave me a good impression of education and research in the UK. I was so grateful for all the support and warm kindness from all of Clare Hall’s members. It was my pleasure to become part of Clare Hall members even for short periods. I hope I can get another opportunity to visit Clare Hall again in the future.