Jim prepared the original bid for UKERC in 2004 and has led the research programme at UKERC since then. As Strategy Fellow, he will continue to be based at Imperial College London in the Centre for Environmental Policy.

Professor Skea will spend the first 12-15 months of his five year Fellowship leading a team of scientists in developing a new roadmap of research, skills and training needs across the entire energy landscape. It will provide the evidence base upon which the Energy Programme can plan its long-term research activities, including milestones to help the Government meet its 2050 climate change target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% from 1990 levels.

In the following four years, Professor Skea will lead a programme of research that will assess how effectively different countries conduct their energy research and development activities, with a view to learning lessons and determining how energy R&D programmes can better feed into energy policy.

In his eight years at UKERC, Jim led the Research Co-ordination team and was instrumental in the launch of such innovations as the Energy Research Atlas, the first tool to show the live status of energy R&D in the UK.  As leader of the Phase I Energy 2050 Project, he galvanised the expertise of the best energy researchers in the UK in order to address the question of how to achieve a more secure, low-carbon energy system up to 2050. UKERC’s current research is focusing on two ‘flagship’ projects addressing how to take robust decisions in the face of many uncertainties regarding energy futures, and the way UK energy interacts with global changes and pressures.  Projects supported under the Research Fund provide much of the evidence for this programme of work.

John Loughhead, Executive Director of UKERC, comments: ‘Jim has made a tremendous contribution to the creation and development of UKERC, for which we are all grateful. We are sorry to see him go but our first rate team will continue the good work. We wish him the very best in his new role in which we're sure we shall be interacting with him’. Jim Skea says: ‘It’s been a real privilege to work alongside the UK’s top energy researchers and develop a programme of research that has had a high impact - both academically and in relation to policy. It’s a wrench leaving behind the new flagship projects, but at the same time I look forward to the challenge of my new role.’

For further information, please contact:

Lindsay Wright, Head of Communications, UK Energy Research Centre

020 7594 2669 lindsay.wright at ukerc.ac.uk

Charlotte Knight, Communications Officer, UK Energy Research Centre

020 7594 1573 charlotte.knight at ukerc.ac.uk

About the UK Energy Research Centre

The UK Energy Research Centre, which is funded by Research Councils UK, carries out world-class research into sustainable future energy systems. It is the hub of UK energy research and the gateway between the UK and the international energy research communities. Our interdisciplinary, whole-systems research informs UK policy development and research strategy. www.ukerc.ac.uk

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