20. July 2021Job Advertisement

We are currently looking for five student assistants who are interested in becoming active members of our research group. We are looking for one student assistant in the subgroup “International Coal Transitions“, two in the subgroup “European Coal and Gas Transitions“ and also two for the subgroup “Energy System Modeling and Transition”. The scope of the position is 40 h/month or more by arrangement. The working hours can be arranged flexibly.

 

Job Vacancy  Subgroup „International Coal Transitions“

The subgroup of the CoalExit research group “International Coal Transitions” focuses on questions on how the global production and consumption of coal can be reduced through adequate energy and climate policies to mitigate the consequences of climate change.  A special focus is on policy-relevant research around a socially just, ecologically sensible, economically reasonable and timely global coal phase-out. Our current research projects examine the coal transition implications for international coal markets and suitable alternatives in coal-dependent countries and regions (special interest on China, India, USA, South Africa and Colombia).

Requirements for the student assistant:

• An ongoing bachelor’s or master’s program in business administration, public policy, economics, political science or a related field
• Affinity with research activities and interest in topics related to international energy and climate policy issues. Basic knowledge of the energy or resource sector and climate policy are expected, knowledge on financial analysis, data management, and website administration are an asset
• Excellent command of English and a good command of German are expected; additional language skills in Spanish or other languages are an advantage
• Intermediate-advanced use of Microsoft Office applications is expected and use of statistical software, referencing software, and basic knowledge of programing languages are welcome

 

 Job Vacancies Subgroup „Energy System Modeling and Transition“

The subgroup of the CoalExit research group “Energy System Modeling and Transition” focuses on long-term scenario planning and analysis of the energy system transition. With the help of an open-source energy system model which was developed and expanded over the last couple of years, questions about the future configuration of the energy system, interactions between the different sectors and resulting sector-coupling effects, as well as scenarios in line with agreed on climate targets are analyzed.

For the two open positions, we are looking for students who support the team in both research activities and administrative tasks. The first position consists for the most part of the analysis and verification of regional energy transition scenarios for all European countries as part of the project “openENTRANCE – Open Energy Transition Analysis for a low-carbon economy” funded by the European Commission. As part of the project, possible pathways of the European energy system towards achieving climate targets are calculated. At the same time, the regional particularities of each European country have to be taken into account. The second position is more tailored towards data handling and processing as well as programming data conversion scripts and interfaces. The tasks will include converting standardized data into model input and vice-versa or defining interfaces for the communication between different models, especially in the context of a project analyzing the future prospects of hydrogen in a global, European and German context.

Requirements for both student assistant positions:

• An ongoing bachelor’s or master’s program in industrial engineering, economics, (business) mathematics, computer science, or other related studies
• Good knowledge of German and English (B2), as well as interest in working in a team and good communication skills
• Analytical skills and the ability to work independent and responsible

Requirements for the first student assistant position:

• Interest in long-term energy system analysis; knowledge of working with Excel, Word and LaTeX

Requirements for second student assistant position:

• Good programming skills (preferably Python or Julia), experience in working with large amounts of data is an advantage but not necessarily required

 

 Job Vacancy Subgroup „European Coal and Gas Transitions“

The subgroup of the CoalExit research group “European Coal and Gas Transitions” addresses the question of how German and European production and consumption of coal and natural gas can be reduced through appropriate energy and climate policies in order to mitigate the consequences of the climate crisis. Several projects focus on policy-relevant research on socially just and more ambitious phase-out options for coal and natural gas, examining the power and influence of different actors, gender aspects and policy contexts. Our current (mostly qualitative) research projects examine, among other things, terminals for liquefied natural gas in Germany that contradict climate policy goals, the role of gender in previous EU coal phase-out processes, and the implementation of socio-economic aspects in energy modelling.

Requirements for the two student assistants:

• A current Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Public Policy, Economics, Political Science or a related field
• Good knowledge of qualitative methods
• Good knowledge of German and English (B2), as well as interest in working in a team and good communication skills
• Interest in research activities and energy and climate policy issues. Basic knowledge of the energy sector and climate policy is an advantage
• Knowledge in website administration is an advantage

 

General Information

The student assistants will support the teams in both research activities and administrative tasks. The tasks require, analytical and critical thinking as well as the ability to work independently and with a high sense of responsibility.

Please send your detailed application in German or English with CV (without photo), letter of motivation, matriculation certificate and other relevant documents in digital form to jobs@coaltransitions.org by 29th august 2021. The start of work is expected to be 1st October 2021. Enrolment in a degree programme in Germany is required, residence near Berlin or Flensburg is an advantage.

More information about the CoalExit research group and its research projects can be found at https://www.coalexit.tu-berlin.de/ and https://coaltransitions.org/projects/coalexit/