RLS Graduate School

The RLS Graduate School started its work in January 2020 at the RLI. Since then, the team of currently six doctoral candidates has been conducting research on issues related to energy system transformation. They are funded by scholarships from the Reiner Lemoine Foundation. Marlin Arnz, Anya Heider, Alexandra Krumm, Ricardo Reibsch, Philipp Diesing and Martha Hoffmann were selected as RLS scholars. The director of the college is Philipp Blechinger.

The RLS Graduate School was founded to better understand systemic obstacles to the energy transition and to research specific solutions in order to make an energy system with 100 % renewable energy possible. It works in a practice- and application-oriented manner and is supported by a network of experts.

The team of the RLS Graduate School was welcomed by the Reiner Lemoine Foundation’s steering committee on 9 January 2020; Dr. Philipp Blechinger (2nd from left), Ricardo Reibsch (3rd), Anya Heider (5th), Marlin Arnz (6th) und Alexandra Krumm (7th)

Research Topics

Alexandra Krumm works on her research in cooperation with the Technical University of Berlin (Department of Economic and Infrastructure Policy) and deals with socio-economic issues of the energy system transition. This includes aspects of the design of a socially just energy system transition, the role of various actors in the transformation process and - in the context of a "just transition" - a labor market analysis in the renewable energy sector.

Anya Heider writes her thesis in cooperation with the Power Systems Laboratory at ETH Zurich. Her research deals with a holistic flexibility analysis of the German energy system. For this purpose, the flexibility potential of the current and future system will be determined with an as holistic as possible open source model. In the second step, the results are used to evaluate the effectiveness of various market designs regarding their incentives for the use flexibilities.

Marlin Arnz conducts his research in cooperation with the Technical University Berlin (TU Berlin). He investigates the transformation of the transport sector and pays particular attention to the role of rail transport in future mobility scenarios with the background of 100 % renewable energy.

Martha Hoffmann conducts her research in cooperation with the Europa-Universität Flensburg (EUF). She works on the realization of a socially just and accepted energy transition. For this, she plans to add social and ecological aspects to the current technical and economical focus within energy transition planning processes. The development of an integrated energy system model will assess the impact of energy market reforms on community and household level as well as their implications for distributive justice.

Philipp Diesing writes his dissertation in cooperation with the LUT University in Finland and deals with the defossilisation of the German manufacturing sector, specifically by examining the so-called Middle German Chemical Triangle in Saxony-Anhalt. The aim is to create future scenarios for this industrial region, taking into account social structures and technical and economic conditions, and to derive recommendations for action.

Ricardo Reibsch writes his dissertation in cooperation with the Technical University Berlin (TU Berlin) and focuses on the role of decentralized battery systems in electrical grids.

Further information on the RLS graduate school can also be found on the website of the Reiner Lemoine Foundation.