Nicolas Chachereau wins SNSF Early Postdoc.Mobility fellowship
Nicolas Chachereau © Nicolas Chachereau
Nicolas Chachereau, a postdoctoral researcher in the Laboratory for the History of Science and Technology (LHST) in the College of Humanities, has been selected to receive a prestigious Early Postdoc.Mobility Fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).
Early Postdoc.Mobility fellowships are for early-career postdoctoral researchers “who wish to enhance their scientific profile by working at a research institution abroad”. They provide travel, housing, and research funds for 12-18 months. Chachereau will use the grant to lead a project on the political and environmental history of oil in Switzerland at the Rhône-Alps Historical Research Lab (LARHRA) at the University of Lyon, France.
Entitled « Des oléoducs et des raffineries en débat: essor du pétrole et controverses politiques, sociales et environnementales dans la Suisse des années 1960 » (“Debating pipelines and refineries. The rise of oil and political, social and environmental controversies in 1960s Switzerland”), Chachereau’s project will address unanswered questions about the historical emergence of energy systems and transitions. Specifically, he aims to improve our understanding of the rise of oil dependence in post-WWII Switzerland, and will focus on the development of 1960s oil pipelines and refineries in particular.
Chachereau will notably explore political, economic and social controversies associated with this energy transition, and describe the attitudes of various groups involved (especially federal, cantonal, and municipal authorities): who opposed oil pipelines and refineries, who supported them, and why? Who won these debates, and why? To answer such questions, Chachereau will examine untapped Swiss federal and cantonal government archives, as well as those of private organizations. He will also embark on an original analysis of daily newspaper articles.