Final Activity Report Summary - SOLAR CAREER (Research and teaching in renewable energy)
The researcher has been given a unique opportunity to return from the United States and simultaneously steer her career in a new direction. Previously engaged in the well-established field of particle physics where hundreds of physicists work together on high-energy accelerators, she has entered the newly emerging field of renewable energy. Funding for research in renewable energy is still extremely limited when compared to big science projects. This Marie Curie grant provided significant support not only to the researcher herself, but also to the teaching and research environment of the project coordinator, the University of Oldenburg in Germany.
The European Master Course in Renewable Energy (EUREC), for which the University of Oldenburg provides one of the core programs, has greatly benefited from a new lecture position that was created with the help of this grant. Regarding the research aspects, the researcher has been able to blend her previous skills with a new focus on energy meteorology, resulting in the preparation for a new spin-off company. The company in preparation will sell services to the solar energy industry, and perhaps not surprisingly, the first export market will be the United States. In this way, the grant has played a crucial role in turning a brain drain into a brain gain.
The European Master Course in Renewable Energy (EUREC), for which the University of Oldenburg provides one of the core programs, has greatly benefited from a new lecture position that was created with the help of this grant. Regarding the research aspects, the researcher has been able to blend her previous skills with a new focus on energy meteorology, resulting in the preparation for a new spin-off company. The company in preparation will sell services to the solar energy industry, and perhaps not surprisingly, the first export market will be the United States. In this way, the grant has played a crucial role in turning a brain drain into a brain gain.