multi-technology innovation

PhD project

The main theme of my doctoral research project is 'multi-technology challenges'. These concern issues where socio-economic problems are intended to be solved by technologies, which are in themselves complex compilations of multiple sub-systems. Examples include smart energy, autonomous vehicles, or smart agri-tech. Because such innovations involve multiple stakeholders in large networks and aim at improving life for society, these become political issues as well. Hence, I investigate how policy can coordinate the development and innovation of such multi-tech solutions, making them more efficient and environmentally friendly, accelerating their development, and ultimately, making them more socially beneficial. This work, hence, combines insights from innovation studies, public administration, and political economy.

innovation complexity

PhD project

Innovation is a highly complex phenomenon because it includes many different component parts, such as actors and institutions with different interests and priorities that all evolve over time, and it affects social, economic, technological, and behavioral dynamics simultaneously. This is the case, for example, in knoweldge networks, for science policy, technology transfer, or technology regulation. Before governments change such networks, we have to grasp the underlying complexity of it, ensuring that policies only have their intended effects. Hence, understanding the structure and the interdependencies of these innovation networks is the goal of this project, where I focus on energy system innovation and environmental policies.

autonomous vehicles

PhD project

Connected autonomous vehicles (AV) are hyped as a mobility solution of the future resolving many of the transport and environmental problems cities face today. At the same time, they are a prime example of a multi-technology innovation that affects various policy and regulatory domains, which often results in a governance challenge. I ask to what extent AV can satisfy these expectations and how policies or regulations shape and coordiante the innovation of the technology. Relying on a system analysis approach, I cross-compare the policies and the development of AV innovation in Singapore, Estonia, and Sweden.

aviation transition

research project

The transport sector, in general, and the aviation industry, in particular, are one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global climate change. In this project, we investigate to what extent a transition to sustainability of the aviation sector is possible, which avenues - technologically, economically, and politically - chould be pursued, and why the transition scholarship should pay attention to it. We focus especially on alternative fuels, on the one hand, and on behavioral changes, on the other. I conduct this project jointly with Antoine Habersetzer (Bauhaus Luftfahrt) and Carsten Schwäbe (FU Berlin).

energy transitions

research project

Enhancing economic prosperity often stands in contradiction to promoting environmental sustainability - coalescing both requires a new way of thinking. Investigating how a transition towards sustainability can be achieved in a way that does not vitiate economic prosperity is the goal of this project. A 'transition' implies a large scale transformation across the economy with new business models and innovative technologies. Both rely on incentive structures and policies that regard a large sustainability transition as a long-term and holistic 'mission'. Here, I focus on renewable energy technologies and the energy transition in emerging market economies.

green industrial policy

research project

Industrial strategies define the direction into which governments hope that the economy will develop. This project takes a comparative approach to analyse the industrial strategies of several advanced economies - among others the UK and Germany - to investigate to what extent their policies are environmentally and econmically sustainable, mission-oriented, cross-sectoral, and, therefore, long-term value creating. This project is based on a consulting project for the UK Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) and is conducted with colleagues from the University of Cambridge.