A Summer School Focused on Sustainability Research for Hydrogen Technologies

Young scientists experience innovative approaches for the energy sector at RWTH Aachen University and Forschungszentrum Jülich

The second interdisciplinary Summer School of Humboldtⁿ, the sustainability initiative of the 16 universities in North Rhine-Westphalia, has now taken place within the framework of the Jülich Aachen Research Alliance (JARA). This is the research alliance that RWTH Aachen University has with Forschungszentrum Jülich. The aim of the schools is to sensitize young scientists to aspects of sustainability research.

The second Humboldtⁿ School focused on the interdisciplinary perspective of the "Hydrogen Innovation Ecosystem". In keynote speeches from science and practice, different stages of the value chain of a hydrogen economy (production, storage, distribution, use) were considered and business, science and society were connected in a goal-oriented manner. By taking up innovative approaches to transformation research in the energy sector and embedding sustainability aspects in the research activities, new impulses were generated.

A guided tour of the Center for Mobile Propulsion (CMP) provided an exciting insight into the development of fuel cells and hydrogen engines. In addition, the participants were able to experience various demonstrations of the Living Lab Energy Campus (LLEC) project up close during a bicycle tour of the Jülich campus. At the end of the Humboldt School, the hydrogen bus took the participants to the Rhenish mining area at tu! Hambach in Morschenich-Alt. Well prepared by an interactive training on science communication, they presented their main findings on the "Hydrogen Innovation Ecosystem" with an interdisciplinary perspective.