Program 2022

Biography “Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” Confucius Since 2004, I have headed the “Energy, Transport, Environment” department at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) and am Professor of Energy Economics and Energy Policy at Leuphana University. I was a professor of energy economics and sustainability at the Hertie School of Governance, in Berlin, until 2019. From 2004 to 2009, I held the professorship of environmental economics at Humboldt University. As an expert witness and policy advisor, I have served and continue to serve on various sustainability advisory boards and commissions. In 2016, I was appointed to the German Advisory Council on the Environment (SRU), and am serving my second term as co-chair. I am also a member of the climate advisory board of the city of Hamburg and Dresden. As part of the High Level Group on Energy and Climate, I advised EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso. In addition, I am and have been active in advisory boards of various research institutes. I also serve as a juror for numerous awards, such as the German Study Award and the German Environmental Award. I studied economics at the universities of Bielefeld, Oldenburg and Stanford. Following my doctorate in 1998 at the University of Oldenburg, I did research at the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) in Milan. It was during this time that I first worked as a political advisor between Rome and Bonn. Back in Germany, I initially headed a junior researcher group at the Institute for the Rational Use of Energy at the University of Stuttgart. Then I became a junior professor and led a research group at the University of Oldenburg from 2000 to 2004. In 2004 I received the call to Berlin. I also taught in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Siena. In 2006 I was honored as a top researcher by the German Research Foundation, the Helmholtz Society and the Leibniz Society, followed in 2011 by the Urania Medal and the B.A.U.M. Environmental Award in the category of science, in 2016 the German Solar Prize , Adam Smith Prize and the Vordenker Award. I have been a member of the German Association of the Club of Rome for several years, and have been a member of the Presidium since 2016. I regularly publish my research findings in high-impact journals, books, and daily media. I was born in Delmenhorst in 1968, am married and live in Oldenburg and Berlin. Source photo: berlin@axel schmidt