Ilka Cußmann has been Head of the research unit Transformation of Energy Systems at RLI since April 2024. She is mainly involved in the areas of electricity grids, open science and data management. She is responsible for project development as well as project and division management in the Transformation of Energy Systems research unit.

Ilka's professional background includes positions as a research assistant and project manager at Flensburg University of Applied Sciences and the Europa-Universität Flensburg. Among other things, she was consortium leader of the eGoⁿ research project and can look back on many years of successful collaboration with colleagues at RLI. During her time as a research assistant, her thematic focus was on the creation of open and qualified data models for energy system modeling and the investigation of flexibility potentials in future energy systems.

Ilka is currently doing her doctorate at the Europa-Universität Flensburg in the field of open energy system modeling. Her research focuses on a better consideration of planetary boundaries in energy system models. Ilka also completed her Master's degree in Energy and Environmental Management at the Europa-Universität Flensburg, where her Master's thesis focused on market entry opportunities for virtual power plants. As part of her Bachelor's degree at Flensburg University of Applied Sciences, Ilka spent a semester at Reykjavik University in Iceland.