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2020 ETH Academy on Sustainability and Technology

Date:

June 14th, 2020 – June 19th 2020

Description:

During the last two years, public discussion around sustainability issues such as climate change, plastic waste, and economic and gender inequality have intensified. Prominent examples are social movements such as the Fridays for Future marches, calls for institutional change such as “New Green Deals,” the recent success of Green parties, and debates around new sustainable technologies such as utility-​scale storage of renewable energy, bioplastics, or electric vehicles. Capitalizing on this increasing attention to sustainability issues while successfully developing and diffusing sustainable technologies requires coordinated, constructive, and interdisciplinary interaction between research and society.

This year’s academy focuses on technological, organizational, and institutional changes for sustainability. We provide a unique platform for junior researchers (PhD students and postdoctoral researchers) with a background in engineering, management, economics, and political sciences to present their work to an audience of diverse yet like-​minded scholars and an international faculty with a record of accomplishments in research on energy and climate policy, environmental entrepreneurship and business, and sustainable technologies. Participants obtain detailed feedback on their research design, theoretical approaches, and methodology. In addition, we provide plenty of room for informal discussions and networking with other junior scholars and professors. Students in previous years have come from, amongst others, EPFL Lausanne, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oxford University, Stanford University, the Technical University of Munich, and the University of Cambridge.

Research of the participants should focus on — but is not limited to — the following topics:

  • Corporate sustainability, environmental management, and innovation strategies for sustainability
  • Socio-​technical and techno-​economic assessment of sustainable technologies
  • Process research methodologies in the context of sustainability
  • Technology and innovation policy in the context of sustainability
  • Innovation systems, institutional and technological change for sustainability
  • Ecological change, circular economy, resilience and dynamics of social-​ecological systems

This year’s faculty consists of:

  • Dr. Ann Langley

Professor of Strategic Management, HEC Montréal

  • Dr. Gregory Nemet

Professor of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Madison

  • Johannes Meuer

Senior Researcher of Sustainability and Technology, ETH Zurich

  • Dr. Volker Hoffmann

Professor of Sustainability and Technology, ETH Zurich

Location & Details:

The ETH Academy on Sustainability and Technology will take place in a hotel in the midst of the Swiss Alps. To guarantee an intensive learning process, attendance is limited to 15 participants. Third-​party funding allows us to offer a participation fee of only CHF 450 (ca. 450 USD) which covers accommodation, meals, and excursions.

Please send your application to Julia Gergek and include

The deadline for application is 6 March 2020. They will send out notification of acceptance by 27 March 2020. Deadline for full paper submission (10-​15 pages) is 8 May 2020. For additional information contact Julia Gergek. We look forward to receiving your application!