Groningen Energy Summer School 2015

Groningen 17-28 August 2015

Summer School description

The Groningen Energy Summer School 2015 for PhD students takes an interdisciplinary approach to one of the hottest topics of the energy landscape: smart grids. By bringing together and combining a broad range of disciplines, this event will offer a unique opportunity to PhD students to become aware of different aspects of the energy transition, to develop novel insights, and to create synergy in approaches to smart grids. During the summer school, the participants will attend lectures by specialists in the field, present their own work, and play an active role in workshops and discussions.

Participants will have the opportunity to learn about how smart grids are shaped by the interaction of new roles for consumers, advanced Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), new markets, security of supply issues, informationalisation processes, valuation of assets and investments, technological innovation and (de)regulation. Participant will therefore extend their understanding with input about the technical, social, economic, legal and psychological dimensions of smart grids.

The summer school will therefore be the occasion to address how experts from different disciplines collaborate in moving towards a sustainable and secure energy supply enabled by smart grid technologies.

The summer school will provide PhD students with an opportunity to connect to new networks, to learn from experts in the field, including practitioners, and to discuss their own work. Group work on a case study will further ensure an interdisciplinary experience. Excursions will also be on the programme.

The key questions addressed in the summer school

• What are smart grids?
• What is the role of smart grids in processes of decentralisation and globalization?
• What are the latest technological developments in smart grids and how can these be implemented most effectively?
• As projects involving multiple actors, how do smart grids configure the roles of the private and public sectors in the provision of collective goods?
• How do insights from various disciplines merge in discourses smart grids?
• How will current geopolitical tensions be affected by an eventual growth of smart grids?
• Will smart grids bring about transformations as radical as those we see in the deployment of internet/web/digital networks?
• What is the role of governments and regulation in smart grids?

Programme committee

• Prof. Dr. Marco Aiello, Faculty of Mathematics and natural Sciences, University of Groningen
• Drs. Jessica de Boer, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen
• Dr. Hassan Farhangi, British Columbia Institute of Technology
• Prof. Marija D. Ilic, Carnegie Mellon University and Delft University
• Prof. Dr. Hans Vedder, Faculty of Law, University of Groningen
• Prof. Dr. Jaap de Wilde, GSG & Department of IRIO, University of Groningen
• Dr. Anne Beaulieu, Groningen Energy & Sustainability Programme, University of Groningen

Organizing committee

• Dr. Anne Beaulieu, Groningen Energy & Sustainability Programme, University of Groningen
• Margriet Halbersma, Groningen Energy & Sustainability Programme, University of Groningen
• Sebastian Trip, Engineering and Technology Institute Groningen, University of Groningen
• Christian Zuidema, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, Department of Planning, University of Groningen
• Prof.Dr. Jacqelien Scherpen, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Groningen

Structure, Participation and Selection

The Summer School will host up to 30 PhD-candidates from all academic backgrounds and from all over the world. O ne of the key goals of the Summer School is to provide an experience of the complexities of true interdisciplinarity. The registration is closed.

The Summer School consists of 10 working days. Preparation and participation in the summer school represents a work-load of 5 ECTS. The participation fee is € 300. Students have to cover their own travel and accommodation costs. Those who find themselves unable to do so and originate from a non-OECD country can request a grant (max € 600 per person).

For further information:

• Anne Beaulieu
• Margriet Halbersma
• Sebastian Trip