PhD Scholarships in Incentives for Energy Transition, University of Groningen, Netherlands (2015)

The overall objective of this theme is to contribute to the challenge to transform the fossil-energy based society into a society based on renewable energy, the so-called energy transition. In this theme the energy transition is approached from multiple perspectives (e.g. economic, behavioural, operational, or innovation). PhD students in this theme will play a significant role in determining the direction and designing the content of their individual projects.

The energy transition is a huge operation affecting all of us, be it as a producer or as a consumer of energy. This implies that the realisation of the energy transition depends on the incentives given to producers and consumers and how these agents respond to these incentives. Hence, the fundamental question here refers to the design of incentive schemes improving the effectiveness of the energy transition. What are efficient ways to change the behaviour of residential consumers as well as energy-intensive firms to reduce their consumption of energy? Do current incentive policies contribute to adaptation of green energy? How to effectively manage a dispersed network of energy suppliers such as wind farms? How to cope with a far less stable energy supply? Which options exist to stimulate innovation in renewable-energy technologies such that this results in lower generation costs and how do firms respond to different types of innovation policy? To what extent need electricity markets be redesigned in order to deal with the growing share of renewable energy having low marginal costs? How can less-developed but strongly growing countries be encouraged to participate in international climate agreements?
Answers to questions like these will contribute to finding societal solutions to realise the energy transition. The challenge to find effective incentive schemes for the energy transition offers many interesting research opportunities for excellent young researchers with diverse backgrounds.

The aim of SOM’s PhD programme is to turn out highly qualified researchers. The PhD programme is part of the research institute SOM with six excellent research programmes. Each of the projects will be embedded in one or two of these programmes. All PhD candidates are supervised by at least two fellows of SOM. Depending on the background of the candidates, the educational part of the programme will be filled in with a combination of methods, profile and courses in energy economics.

Requirements
We are aiming at bringing together four candidates with different backgrounds to address the topic from different perspectives. These candidates should fulfil the following requirements:

- a research master or Master of Science degree in a relevant field, and sufficient affinity to the field of economics & business
- fluent in English

Further details:
http://www.academictransfer.com