Prof. Dr Claudia Kemfert

Leuphana University of Lüneburg and DIW Berlin
Lecture title:‘Climate, People and Energy’

The lecture demonstrates why climate protection and the energy transition are key foundations for prosperity, security and competitiveness. It focuses on the opportunities presented by renewable energy, storage and flexibility, as well as the political and social conditions necessary for a just transition. At the same time, it examines common misconceptions and myths surrounding energy policy and outlines ways in which the energy transition can be achieved decisively, whilst ensuring social and economic success.

Short bio:
Prof. Dr Claudia Kemfert has headed the Department of Energy, Transport and the Environment at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) since 2004 and is a professor of energy economics and energy policy at Leuphana University. She is co-chair of the German Advisory Council on the Environment at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, as well as a member of the Presidential Board of the German chapter of the Club of Rome; Kemfert is one of the most renowned figures in her subject. She is the author of over 600 publications, including several books. Her book *Schockwellen* (Campus Verlag) was published in spring 2023, followed by *Unlearn CO2* (Ullstein Verlag) in 2024 and *Kurzschluss* (Campus Verlag) in March 2026 (www.claudiakemfert.de).

Prof. Dr Anke Weidlich

University of Freiburg
Lecture title:“Herculean coordination: Grid operations under high variable renewable penetration”

Short Bio:
Prof. Dr Anke Weidlich has been Professor of Energy Distribution Technologies at the University of Freiburg since 2017, where she conducts research in the field of energy system analysis at the interface between electricity grids and electricity markets. She is a member of several relevant committees in energy research and practice, such as the Expert Commission on Energy Transition Monitoring, the Energy Research Centre of Lower Saxony, the Executive Board of the Academies’ Initiative “Energy Systems of the Future” (ESYS) and the Advisory Board for the 8th Energy Research Programme of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE).

Prof. Dr Johann Lilliestam

FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg
Lecture title:“Modern Climate Policy: Transition and technology policy for net-zero emissions by 2050”

Short Bio:
Johan Lilliestam is Professor of Sustainability Transition Policy at Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg. His research focuses on policies, strategies and instruments for a transition to a fully renewable energy system, including the effects of interactions between different energy policies. His work is highly interdisciplinary, rooted in transition studies and political science. He is a European Research Council grantee and Lead Author for Energy Systems in the ongoing Assessment Report of the IPCC.
Before joining FAU, he was Professor of Energy Policy at the University of Potsdam and the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, and Assistant Professor of Renewable Energy Policy at ETH Zurich.

Prof. Dr Sebastian Lehnhoff

University of Oldenburg
Lecture title:“Grid Stability Is Easy. Humans Are Hard. Trust and Opinion Dynamics in the Energy Transition”

Short Bio:
Sebastian Lehnhoff is Professor of Energy Informatics at the University of Oldenburg, CEO of the OFFIS Institute for Information Technology, and spokesperson for the Energy Research Centre of Lower Saxony. His work lies at the intersection of computer science, energy systems and society – ranging from AI and digital twins to the resilience of critical infrastructures. Beyond research projects, he is active in scientific academies, supervisory boards, and open-source initiatives for the energy sector. And somehow, amidst all his management responsibilities, he still finds time for what he enjoys most: being curious, understanding complex systems, and shaping the future.

Assistant Professor Christina Papadimitriou

Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e)
Lecture title:“Orchestrating Citizen-Centred Energy Communities: Balancing Decarbonisation and Privacy”

Short Bio:
Dr Christina Papadimitriou has been an assistant professor at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) specialising in intelligent energy systems since 2022. She obtained her diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Patras, Greece, as well as her PhD on the control of distributed generation for its integration into microgrids (research excellence grant). In this context, she has managed and coordinated European and national projects in her main research areas, namely smart grid planning and operation for flexibility harvesting within the integrated grid. She has served as the technical coordinator of the eNeuron H2020 project (on which this talk will be based), whilst leading the DIgiRES project under CETPartnership; she is currently chair of the EU BRIDGE initiative’s Working Group on Business Models.

Professor Martha Roggenkamp

University of Groningen (RUG)
Lecture title:‘The North Sea as a source for energy transition’

Short bio:
Martha Roggenkamp is Professor of Energy Law at the University of Groningen (RUG) and a leading expert in Dutch, European and international energy law. She was the first professor of energy law in the Netherlands and has played a major role in research and regulatory matters.

Professor Christian Zuidema

University of Groningen (RUG)
Lecture title:“Energy transition in dense contested spaces, towards inclusivity and area-based thinking”

Short Bio:
Christian Zuidema is a Full Professor at the University of Groningen, holding the Chair in Planning for Sustainable Transformation. His work focuses on the relationship between space, spatial planning and energy transition, with a particular emphasis on the institutional processes and innovation required for spatial energy planning. He has contributed to over a dozen (inter)national research projects on these subjects. He has published in a variety of international journals on topics related to integrated energy planning, marine spatial planning, offshore energy transitions and spatial energy modelling.

Assistant Professor Jesse Hoffman

Utrecht University
Lecture title:“Realigning energy transitions with the goals for a just and human world.”

Short bio:
Jesse Hoffman is an assistant professor at the Urban Futures Studio (UFS) and the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development. Jesse studies the politics of sustainability transitions, with a particular interest in the politics of large-scale infrastructures and ecosystems and the imagination of the future. He is interested in transformative, practice-oriented pedagogies and research approaches. In 2021, Jesse and his teaching team were awarded the Dutch Higher Education Premium for the innovative ‘Mixed Classroom’ and ‘Museum of the Future Past’ concepts. In 2018, he curated the exhibition ‘Places of Hope’ as part of Leeuwarden’s year as European Capital of Culture.