From Engineering to Social Science
Javad Keypour, an early-stage researcher and Ph.D. student at the department of Law talks about university life and all things energy.
Lecturing: Currently — Contemporary International Relations to BA students, Previously — Caspian Studies, Energy Security, and Iran Foreign Policy for MA and BA students
Research topics: PhD thesis on Legal requirement of the digitalised single energy market in the EU. Also writing and supervising in the fields of Middle Eastern Studies, Energy Security
Favourite quote: “Sapere aude!” (Dare to know) especially the way Kant used it in his philosophy
Role Model: Mohammad Mosaddegh, the first democratically elected Iranian prime minister in 1951–1953
Favourite book, film and music: “Open Society and Its Enemies”, a book by “Karl Popper” Internationally renowned Iranian film “What’s the Time in Your World?” by “Safi Yazdanian”. Miniseries “Chernobyl”, as it combines energy and political issues. As for music, two tracks: one from the Iranian singer, Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, called: “Morqe-e Sahar” (translated as “Dawn Bird”) and the other one from British singer, Florence Welch, called “Never Let Me Go!”, very different in style.
Technical and Social aspects of Energy
“I gained my MSc degree in Chemical Engineering in Iran, where I also started my first job in a think tank, working on interdisciplinary studies in the energy field. Gradually, I realised that I need to strengthen my academic background in the social aspect of Energy, like Energy Geopolitics. As I was working on EU-Russia Energy Relations, when it happened to come to Estonia I took the chance immediately.
Thus, I have been here in Tallinn since September 2017. I got my second MA here and taught courses in the field of International relations. Then I followed my studies at the Ph.D. level.
So, this shift from engineering to social science happened to me in a decade! Nevertheless, I still consider myself a scholar of the interdisciplinary field of Energy in particular, and I find this is a great possession because I can understand both technical and social aspects of my field, which gives me a holistic viewpoint to analyse the issue.
I try to keep myself updated about the recent promotions and developments in both the technical and social aspects of the energy field. I mean, this gives me double incentives to learn more and more!”
About the First Job
“I started gaining my work experience with my first job in a think tank in my home country, Iran, and I worked there for five years. Then I worked at the I.R. Iran presidency office, in the Science and Technology department for almost six years. Both positions were more or less in the same category, to deal with technology and market studies in the field of oil and gas.”
Current Priorities and Future Plans
“I think the priority is to finish my Ph.D. successfully here and I hope I can open new opportunities to myself for learning through other research projects and co-publications, meanwhile. There are still so many issues to learn in the energy field. Then, promotion in my job matters for me at the same level, because you cannot be a student or an “early-stage” researcher forever!”
Personality
“I consider myself an introvert mostly, although most of the time I actively participate in social activities. So my main hobbies are those which I do individually like reading, music, walking and of course, books!”
Teaching style
“I try to teach interactively, I mean students’ feedback means to me a lot and I try to tailor the course content to the audience group needs each semester. I also care about students’ gain from the course, as I want to assure myself that what I am teaching is understandable and applicable to most of the students at the class. It may seem strange for some, but when I want to jump to a different topic during a lecture, I ask the students to tell me if they have understood the content even by a nod! Moreover, at the end of the semester, I always read students’ feedback on the ÕIS (TalTech’s Intranet)to improve my teaching content or methods. This is why I think the content or the style that I used in the first semester of teaching in 2017 is different than what I teach now. “
About students
“There are situations when students impress me. The first time was when one German student wrote an essay and pointed out almost everything that I wanted to read, and I asked her even to come to the board to explain that instead of me in the session after. And despite all the challenges that teaching may raise, I have been lucky enough to have students who regularly ask questions which motivates me to learn and study more and more!”
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