Sadegh Emamian, Seyed Mohamad | United Kingdom

Seyed is a doctoral candidate in Sceince and Technology Studies at Edinburgh University. His thesis is focused on energy policy and transition approach. He did his MBA in technology management at Sharif University of Technology, the most well-known university in Iran. Also he has a diversified background in electrical engineering as an undergraduate degree. Most importantly, Seyed spent 6 years after his MBA in working as a senior researcher in a set of policy making professional researches particularly in the field of energy. Since starting the PhD programme, he has participated in several conferences, summer schools and workshops which has presented his work and connected to the relevant academic networks.

Project at IAS-STS: Transition theories in energy policy

While the necessity of a substantial change towards sustainability in energy system seems uncontroversial, the exact frame of the problem, the prospect of sustainability and the role of government in this fundamental transformation are still quite contested. Amongst different theoretical strands, the mainly-Dutch transition perspective as an innovative and promising approach has attracted a lot of international academic attention and praise. Despite considerable achievements, it has received some important criticisms as well, particularly for its political neutrality and optimistic approach to the governmental interventions. Critics have argued that these kinds of theoretical gap constrain the potential of translatability and applicability of transition model into other contexts.

In the UK, while the transition thinking has entered prominently into academic debates and rather implicitly in policy arena, its practical impact is quite marginalized yet. This research aims to firstly evaluate the extent of the UK energy policy contribution in line with transition thinking through the lens of transition principles. Then, it proposes to analytically explain which influential-contextual factors resisting against or fostering the utilization of transition policy advices within the UK energy context. On the other hand, this critical analysis also is hoped to eventuate in the revelation of some generic theoretical gaps of transition theory itself. Expectedly, the findings of this research might lead to drawing policy implications as well as suggestions for theory modification.

Selected Publications

Conference Papers:
Emamian,SMS, Transition theories and the UK energy policy and strategy, 1st Ph.D. Summer School on Technological Innovation System (TIS): Gothenburg, Sweden, Aug. 2011

Emamian,SMS, Is transition welcomed?, 11th Annual Conference on Science and Technology in Society, STGlobal Consortium 2011, Washington DC, April 2011

Emamian,SMS, Transition to a renewable-based energy system in Developing countries, 8th BIEE Academic Conference, UK Energy Research Centre, Oxford, Sep.2010

Published Papers:

Mostafa Zamanian, M., Emamian, SMS., Bagheri, N., Sahafzadeh, M., Hosseini, SH., Providing a Conceptual Framework to Formulate Mission Statement in Nonprofit Voluntary Organizations - Case of an Iranian Organization, International Journal of Business and Social Science, Vol. 2, No. 15; August 2011

Bagheri, N., Sahafzade, M., Emamian, SMS., Irankhah, A., An Approach to R&D Priority Setting- A Case Study of Membrane Technology in National Iranian Gas Industry, Journal of Science & Technology Policy (JSTP), Vol. 1, No. 4; February 2009