Frequently Asked Questions

Very easily is the answer! The fast track route to membership is an Affiliate. You can join online and there is no vaidation of qualifications or experience.

However, you also have the option of applying for one of our other pre professional grades or, if you have a combination of academic qualifications and energy related experience (we recommend at least 5 years) you can apply direct for professional membership

EI Professional grades are:

The Membership Panel will consider all applications for professional membership and meets approximately every two months. Your application should be submitted to the Membership Officer at least three weeks before the Panel meets (although you are recommended to make sure the application reaches there earlier than the closing date). The Membership Panel is due to meet next in April and the deadline for the receipt of applications is 23 May 2012. 

 Application guidance for all grades can be found here

All of these allow the possibility of later progression to professional grades of membership and registration.

Applications for pre professional membership are not assessed by the Membership Panel and you should hear from us after about a week from submitting your application for one of these grades of membership

Those seeking membership at the professional grades of Fellow, Member and Technician Member and/or registration with the Engineering Council,  Science Council or Society for the Environment are required to complete a Professional Development Review (PDR). Your PDR provides an opportunity to outline training, professional experience and levels of seniority in the energy sector. Applicants are requested to outline, in chronological order, the professional experiences they have had and to focus on selected projects they have either managed or contributed to.

The PDR should be explicit about your own contribution to the projects concerned and their relevance to energy. Your interest in membership of the Energy Institute should be particularly highlighted and the PDR should show how you meet the requirements of the competence and commitment criteria for the grade concerned (see the guidance notes). Those seeking registration with the Engineering Council are required to concentrate on their energy engineering-based experiences. More advice is given in the guidance notes accompanying the application form for these grades.

For further guidance on the PDR can be downloaded by clicking here

Your sponsors should be at least at the same grade as that to which you are applying and should not be your subordinates. It is possible for your line manager to act as one of your sponsors but ideally your sponsors should not all come from your current employer.

Sponsors will need to be of Professional Standing, i.e. is or could be a member of a professional body or learned society which elects their members through peer review or by examination” The judgement as to whether a sponsor is ‘of professional standing’ is at the discretion of the Membership Panel.

If you are unable to identify two Energy Institute members of the appropriate grade to act as sponsors, you may use other professionals of equivalent grades from other bodies. Most professionals operating at the level to which they are applying should have no difficulty in identifying colleagues or contacts as potential sponsors. However if you are still encountering difficulty try getting involved with your local Energy Institute Branch where you will probably meet sufficient members who are willing to sponsor you.

The Membership Panel meet approximately every two months and the deadlines for receipt of applications are:

• 23 May 2012
• 25 July 2012
• 21 September 2012
• 14 November 2012