Social processes of regional energy transition - since January, a new junior research group led by Oldenburg sociologist Jannika Mattes has been working on this topic. This has been made possible by Mattes' inclusion in the renowned Emmy Noether Programme of the German Research Foundation. The DFG is funding the project with a total of more than 1.2 million euros over a period of five years.
"The qualification of young researchers is particularly important to our university. We are delighted that the DFG is enabling another Emmy Noether Group at the University of Oldenburg and see this as recognition of our previous commitment to young researchers," explains University President Prof. Dr Dr Hans Michael Piper.
Inclusion in the Emmy Noether Programme will enable Mattes to employ three people at the Institute of Social Sciences for the junior research group. Their topic: "Regional energy transition: the social negotiation, standardisation and learning processes in the wind energy sector".
The team is developing a theoretical concept to help better understand the energy transition. The scientists are also analysing six regions in Germany that are expanding their activities in the wind energy sector. This transition is not only a technological change, but also a social process. The researchers are focussing in particular on the interaction between the actors involved: "We are looking at how those involved negotiate the decisive processes with each other, what self-image they develop in the process and what learning processes they go through," explains Mattes. The sociologist takes into account scientific, industrial, political and administrative stakeholders, as well as the affected citizens - in other words, everyone whose behaviour influences the transition process.
The project is based on qualitative empirical research: the scientists will conduct expert interviews in each region. They hope that this will have both scientific and application-orientated benefits. Mattes: "First of all, the aim is to empirically underpin the conceptual debate in transition research. We also want to make our findings available to the key shapers of the energy transition and thus make a practical contribution to its realisation." For example, political instruments could be better adapted to the actors involved and regional specifics on the basis of their findings.
Jannika Mattes has been a junior professor for the sociology of European societies at the University of Oldenburg since 2011. She studied European Economics at the University of Bamberg and joined the University of Oldenburg as a research assistant in 2007. She completed her doctorate here in 2010. In October 2017, Jannika Mattes received the "Prize for Excellent Research" from the Oldenburg University Society (UGO).
About the Emmy Noether Programme:
The DFG's Emmy Noether Programme aims to provide outstanding young researchers with a path to early scientific independence. Doctoral researchers with substantial international experience acquire the qualification to become university lecturers by leading their own junior research group, usually over a period of five years. The programme is named after the German mathematician Emmy Noether, who was instrumental in advancing abstract algebra at the beginning of the 20th century.