Energy Challenge – an interdisciplinary approach

Hydrogen economy as socio-technical challenge

With the pressing impact of emissions contributing to the warming of our planet, there's an urgent call to transition from fossil fuels (oil, gas, and coal) to cleaner, renewable energy sources. Despite this awareness, the pace of this energy transition is not as rapid as needed. What are the challenges?

This summer school delves into the future of a hydrogen economy and the social-technical challenges involved. Tailored for master's students, the summer school offers a first-hand exploration into the complexities of energy transition and provides an opportunity to engage with real-time energy challenges.

The course will start with a visit to an energy network operator, who will inform the participants about their challenge of shifting the supply from natural gas towards green gas and hydrogen. Over the following three days, lecturers from various fields—ranging from technical and scientific to energy law, environmental psychology, economics, and spatial science—will inform the participants about the challenge of a hydrogen economy from their perspective.

The participants will work in smaller groups on a certain assignment during the course of the summer school. On the final day, groups of participants will present their work to their peers.

For a look into how the experience of the summer school is, take a look at the article on the 2023 edition.

Practical information

Dates	26 - 30 August 2024
Location	Groningen, the Netherlands
Level	MA
Fee (including lunches, coffee, bike rental (for 2 days) and closing reception)	€ 270 Please note that students from ENLIGHT universities are eligible for the same fee as UG students. The Summer School has partial scholarships available for students from less privileged countries. If you would like to apply for a partial scholarship, please let us know in your motivation letter why you think you should qualify for the scholarship.
Academic coordinator	Maaike de Heij, Wubbo Ockels School
Contact	Energychallenges@rug.nl

Requirements

The course is for master students, PhD students and professionals - with a relevant education in science, economics, social science or law - who are interested in energy transition in general and a hydrogen economy in particular.

It is expected that the participants have a sufficient command of the English language to actively participate in the discussions and to present their own work in English.

Course schedule

Lectures with interactive discussion on topics such as

What is hydrogen and how to make the energy transition?
What is the public perspective on energy transition and specifically the use of hydrogen?
What is the economic perspective on hydrogen as a new energy source?
What are legal challenges related to hydrogen?

Excursion to:

Gasunie, an energy network operator, to learn about the challenge the company is facing of shifting the supply from natural gas towards green gas and hydrogen.

Social events

Welcome drinks and city tour
Closing reception/dinner

Learning outcomes

After this course you will be able to:

explain and discuss various dilemmas and policy options related to energy transition;

apply insights from different academic disciplines on a challenge related to energy transition;

reflect on the complex dilemmas in energy transition using the complementary insights from the various disciplines;
further define the challenge into a smaller research question

Workload

Preparation: 10 hours
Lectures: 32 hours
Presentation: 14 hours

Upon successful completion of the programme, the Summer School offers a Certificate of Attendance that mentions the workload of 56hours (28 hours corresponds to 1 ECTS). Students can apply for recognition of these credits to the relevant authorities in their home institutions, therefore the final decision on awarding credits is at the discretion of their home institutions. We will be happy to provide any necessary information that might be requested in addition to the certificate of attendance.

Application procedure

To apply, kindly fill out the online application form. Please note that you will be asked to upload the following documents:

Curriculum Vitae (max. 2 pages)
Motivation letter, clearly stating why you want to join this summer school, what you will bring to the school and what you hope to learn (max. 1 page)

Apply now!

The deadline for application is 31 May 2024.

Last modified:

15 May 2024 2.13 p.m.