As I anticipated my summer research internship, I pictured myself basking in the good weather at a charming St. Andrews café, casually reading articles and enjoying time with friends. Laidlaw gave me the opportunity to experience the 'researcher life' as an undergraduate – what more could I ask for? It felt like THE DREAM!

Instead, my first day of research was – to say the least – confusing. I woke up sick, and as you would expect from a Scottish University in June, it was rainy and the library was empty... But more importantly, I did not know where to start my research. On that first day, I felt overwhelmed by the vastness of the research process. I was totally lost. I had planned to conduct interviews in three weeks and wondered if I'd be able to gather all the information in time. 

Despite the initial hurdles, I soon found my rhythm. In the following days, I read a lot – sometimes not knowing if it was useful. But eventually, I started to understand the different components of my research. My supervisors, Professor David Ulph and Dr Sean Field, were really insightful in creating a systematic framework to think about it. Once a week, we would have a call or meet in a café to discuss how the research was unfolding. We would also talk about all kinds of economics and politics related topics. I felt really privileged to have some time one-on-one with such knowledgeable academics. I learned so much during these meetings! This was definitely one of the highlights of the research period. 

While I'll likely write more about my research later, I wanted to provide a broad overview here. Scotland aims to reach net-zero by 2045 and this implies decarbonising many different sectors of the economy. As such, it will be critical to transform the housing stock to consume less energy and transition towards green heat. My paper aimed to (1) analyse the economic obstacles that constrain investments in net-zero housing; and (2) identify solutions to increase the scale of retrofits (i.e., measures to improve the energy efficiency of existing homes). I did a literature review and conducted interviews to understand the perspective of people working in this sector. 

One interesting finding was the vicious cycle of climate finance. Retrofits are really costly and landlords are uncertain whether they will benefit from higher rents. As a result, the demand for finance (i.e., borrowing money to invest) is low. Perceiving that as a risk to their portfolio, financiers have no incentive to supply such finance at attractive rates. As of today, borrowing for energy efficiency measures is expensive and mostly targeted for new builds rather than retrofits – which is the main challenge considering that 80% of Scotland’s housing stock in 2045 has already been built today. The high financing costs drive down demand, creating more risk for financiers and stifling the private-capital-to-project pipeline. 

Research is a slow process, so was training for a half-ironman – a long distance triathlon consisting of a 2km swim, a 90km bike ride and a half-marathon. Over the summer, I came to realise that there were many parallels to be drawn between them. Achieving these long-term goals requires consistency, hard work, and sticking to a plan. But you also need to find a balance to avoid overtraining or burning-out. I was lucky enough to be living with two of my really good friends - Ollie and Andrew - who are also Laidlaw Scholars. We organised dinners, went on a couple adventures across Scotland, and had dancing-cooking sessions; these were the perfect breaks from sports and research. 

Overall, my research experience was great. I am still polishing my essay, but I am proud of what I have accomplished so far. The half-ironman is in a couple days and the Laidlaw Scholar Conference will be held in October. Soon, I will be celebrating this summer’s hard work! 

Puffins (photo taken by the author on a day trip to the Isle of May)