Jan Jasinski has recently started as a PhD researcher at the University of Strathclyde’s Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship, Strategy, and Innovation. He is the latest student sponsored by the Malcolm Wicks Memorial Fund, named in memory of the late MP and esteemed anti-poverty campaigner. The MWMF PhD programme is funded by Affordable Warmth Solutions and administered by National Energy Action (NEA), to enable students to undertake research into innovative approaches for tackling fuel poverty.

Jan’s work will focus on developing market and policy interventions that will enable more households across Britain to benefit from various Smart, Low-Carbon Domestic Energy Solutions (SLCDES), for example smart meters, smart appliances, electricity storage, heat pumps and electric vehicles.

Previous research has indicated that the slow adoption of these solutions has been primarily driven by higher-income, owner-occupied households, leaving lower-income households who would benefit most from these with record high energy bills instead, in the midst of the energy crisis.

Over the next three years, Jan will work to outline the factors driving injustices in the deployment of these energy solutions across different types of households and regions, as well as formulate clear and practical recommendations for a more socially equitable approach to the deployment of SLCDES in the UK and beyond.

Jan’s previous academic work focused on the social implications of the development of community energy systems, from a community entrepreneurship lens, as well as the use of economic theory in parliamentary politics.

Jan will be keen on involving and working with NEA and the fuel poverty and domestic energy community in the course of the project, and can be reached at jan.jasinski@strath.ac.uk and on LinkedIn. He is also joining the newly founded Strathclyde Institute for Sustainable Communities and its inter-disciplinary PhD community, which will enable collaborations across different fields and lead to greater research impact.