Early Career Researchers
The Supergen Energy Networks hub is committed to support the Early Career Researchers (ECRs) working across this sector. Our ECR network provides greater opportunities for Energy Networks ECRs to help them develop into future leaders in the sector.
ECR Net Zero Conference
9 – 10 March 2026 – Birmingham Conference and Events Centre (BCEC) (in-person)
This event brings together emerging academics to share cutting-edge research and build collaborative networks.
Join us for the ECR NetZero Conference 2026 – a dedicated two day gathering for early career researchers working across energy, net zero and sustainability. This event brings together emerging academics to share cutting-edge research and build collaborative networks.
Hosted at the Birmingham Conference and Events Centre (BCEC), this conference offers an engaging mix of talks, poster sessions and networking opportunities designed to support early career researchers.
Whether your work focuses on decarbonisation, renewable energy systems, climate policy, green finance, future fuels, social sustainability, energy justice or low carbon innovation, this is your space to connect, contribute and grow.
The ECR Committee:
Newcastle University
Natalia Zografou-Barredo
Research Associate
Dr Natalia Zografou-Barredo, PhD, is a Research Associate in Energy Systems at the School of Engineering in Newcastle University. She works in research and innovation projects with industry, academia, and more recently, energy regulation. Her research focuses on climate and energy systems resilience, and spans across hydrogen integration and whole energy systems. Natalia was awarded the competitive EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship to continue research after her PhD studies and recently completed a 3-month secondment at Ofgem, the GB energy regulator. Currently she is co-leading the £500K EPSRC-funded research project ResTOrES on resilience of offshore energy systems and leading work under the £9m EPSRC Supergen Energy Networks Hub project.
The University of Bristol
Guarav Sen
PhD Student
Currently doing a PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, focussing on the localisation of microgrids and their socio-techno-economic impacts. Research interests include energy access especially in remote areas, community development, and energy sustainability
Cardiff University
Shuai Yao
Research Associate
Shuai is a Postdoctoral Research Associate with the School of Engineering, Cardiff University. His research interests lie in modelling, simulation and operational optimization of Multi-Vector Energy Systems including electricity, heating/cooling, natural gas and hydrogen at different temporal and spatial scales. Currently, He is working on two EPSRC-funded projects – Supergen Energy Networks Impact Hub 2023 and Hydrogen Integration for Accelerated Energy Transitions (HI-ACT).
Email: yaos8@cardiff.ac.uk
Manchester Metropolitan University
Yakubu Tsado
Lecturer
Dr Yakubu Tsado is a Lecturer in Cyber Security and Smart Grid in the Department of Computing and Mathematics at Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom. Yakubu received a B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from the Federal University of Technology Minna, Nigeria, an M.Sc. degree in Communication Engineering & Digital Signal Processing from Lancaster University, U.K., and a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering (Smart Grid) from the same University.
Email: y.tsado@mmu.ac.uk
University of Manchester
Yitian Dai
Research Associate
Yitian Dai received her B.Eng and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from The University of Manchester in 2019 and 2024, respectively. She is currently working as a Research Associate with the Supergen Energy Networks Hub at The University of Manchester. Her research interests include cascading blackout analysis and resilience assessment of future low-carbon energy systems.
Durham University
Jinjie Liu
Research Associate
Dr. Jinjie Liu is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Durham University working on AI for low-carbon energy transitions, including microgrids, virtual power plants, carbon accounting, and digital twins. She received a B.Eng. in Electrical Engineering from North China Electric Power University in 2018 and a Ph.D. in Computer and Information Engineering from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2023. She has contributed to two EPSRC-funded projects (VPP-WARD and Cheddar). Email: Email: jinjie.liu@durham.ac.uk.
Northumbria University
Goyal Awagan
Research Fellow
Goyal Awagan received her B. Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from the Government College of Engineering, Amravati, India, in 2013, and her M. E degree in Electrical Power Systems from the Government Engineering College, Aurangabad, India, in 2016. She received her Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Raipur, India, in 2024. She is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics at Northumbria University, Newcastle, United Kingdom. Her research interests include microgrid protection, cyber-physical systems, and the application of artificial intelligence in power systems. She is presently involved in two UKRI-funded projects, namely VPP-WARD and SustainAIRA6G.
University of Aberdeen
Edward Chuah
Lecturer
I received my PhD in Computer Science at The University of Warwick on July 2020. On October 2020, I took up a post-doctoral research associate position at Lancaster University. From September 2021 to May 2022, I was a Lecturer in Computer Science (Teaching and Scholarship) at The University of Exeter. On May 2022, I joined The University of Aberdeen as a Lecturer in Computing Science (Teaching and Research).
My main research interest is in large-scale systems dependability. My initial research interest is focused on reliability, one of the attributes of dependability. Currently, my focus is on the security attribute of dependability, where I am investigating security in large networks.
Email: edward.chuah@abdn.ac.uk
University of Leicester
Jinning Zhang
Lecturer
Jinning Zhang is a Lecturer in the Green Energy and Transport Group at the School of Engineering, University of Leicester. She received her MSc (2019) and PhD (2022) in Aerospace Propulsion from Cranfield University. Her research focuses on the integration of sustainable energy sources, such as batteries and hydrogen, into propulsion and power systems, addressing the energy and environmental challenges of future sustainable aviation, and exploring synergies between air transport and energy networks to enable integrated strategies for carbon footprint reduction
University of Nottingham
Promise Uzondu Chukwu
Mr. Promise Uzondu Chukwu is a Deputy Director at the Energy Commission of Nigeria, where he has served for over sixteen years. He is currently on study leave at the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, pursuing doctoral research focused on the Techno‑Economic Assessment (TEA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of hydrogen production. His professional and academic interests centre on advancing a sustainable and just energy transition in Africa, with particular emphasis on hydrogen as a strategic pathway. Beyond his professional commitments, he enjoys watching football and actively seeks opportunities to expand his network with like‑minded professionals and global energy leaders.
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We take a broad view of what counts as an ECR, spanning from PhD students, post-doctoral researchers, through to academics at the start of their careers. Broadly, if you consider yourself an ECR then so do we.
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