Stanford
Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education

SGSI 2026: Energy@Stanford & SLAC

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Learn about Energy@Stanford & SLAC!

 

  • Course will take place on Tuesday - Thursday, September 8-10 from 10AM-5PM, and Friday, September 11 from 10AM-7:30PM
  • Full attendance is expected.
  • There will be an optional 1 hour field trip to Stanford's Central Energy Facility after the scheduled programming. 

Brief Course Overview

Jumpstart your energy education at Stanford. Build your personal energy network at Stanford and hear about current research from distinguished Stanford energy faculty and expert speakers. Develop a broad perspective on energy and meet Silicon Valley energy entrepreneurs. Tour Stanford's state-of-the-art energy facilities. Connect with Explore Energy and the robust energy community on campus. This four-day course will allow you to meet incoming graduate and professional school students who share an interest in energy and build an interdisciplinary community across campus. An energy background is not required; students from all schools and departments are encouraged to apply.

Course Format

The course is designed like a conference.

Intensity Level 🔥🔥

A variety of topics are covered at a quick pace, with in-class activities that require moderate out-of-class preparation and active in-class engagement.

Audience

Graduate and professional school students* in any discipline are encouraged to apply, as well as postdoctoral scholars (if space allows). Postdoctoral scholars will be invited to apply during the final/postdoc application period starting July 6th.

*MSx Class of 2027 and first year MBA students are ineligible to participate due to mandatory program requirements.

Detailed Course Description

The 2026 Energy@Stanford & SLAC conference will be a four-day course held on campus from Tuesday, September 8th through Friday, September 11th. 

Each year we review and incorporate our student participants’ feedback from our post-conference survey, as well as feedback from the staff planning team and faculty participants, and every year this program improves upon the last. We had very positive feedback from previous years, such as “I enjoyed the variety of topics and speakers that they included into the program -- it was clear they worked to include a series of interdisciplinary speakers which was good as someone without a technical background.”

Our main area of improvement from 2025 is to schedule additional and longer breaks because of a rather dense schedule, so this year we intend to change the timing each day to allow for more rest time.

The Energy@Stanford & SLAC program has really grown to be the flagship energy event for incoming Stanford graduate students over the last few years. Another area of improvement that we will focus on will be tightening up logistical communication, as our program is complex, and involves a variety of locations and timings as part of our robust experiential learning agenda, which has previously led to some confusion. 

The program enrolls close to 5% of the incoming graduate class. We continually get anecdotal evidence from students on how it positively shaped their overall experience at Stanford and influenced their academic direction. The Precourt Institute for Energy, the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences, and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory will again collaborate together and with other energy groups on campus to offer this four-day course. The program will continue to be designed specifically to build an interdisciplinary cohort and help incoming Stanford graduates and professional school students with an interest in energy jumpstart their first academic year here at Stanford. We will do this by providing: 

  • A wide range of energy talks(related to technology, policy, finance, etc.).
  • Big picture talks on climate change and the energy landscape
  • A wide variety of in-depth elective classes for them to choose from
  • An opportunity to learn hands-on and collaborate with peers from across disciplines
  • Ample time to network with each other, Stanford faculty/fellows/researchers, current students, alumni, and energy entrepreneurs through meals and programmed dinners, (more)breaks throughout the day, panel discussions and elective interactive small group breakouts
  • Tours of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and faculty labs
  • Resources and networks available on campus, and ways to stay involved in the energy community after the course, including the Explore Energy program

Objectives

In this course, you will: 

  • Learn about the breadth and depth of energy research from over 30 Stanford faculty and researchers. -
  • Develop an interdisciplinary perspective on energy at Stanford
  • Build your personal cross-campus network of incoming graduate students
  • Network with alumni, energy entrepreneurs, and Stanford faculty and staff across Stanford and SLAC
  • Attend in-depth elective interactive discussions with Stanford faculty and researchers of your choice
  • Connect with Explore Energy and the energy community at Stanford

Instructors