The emergenCITY Deputy Coordinator Michèle Knodt and emergenCITY PI Florian Steinke, together with his colleague Stefan Niessen, have been awarded the prestigious Hessian University Prize for Excellence in Teaching, endowed with 60,000 euros, for the course “Shaping the Energy Transition”. Science Minister Timon Gremmels handed the awards over this evening in Frankfurt’s Jügelhaus. The award-winning course offers students of political science and engineering the opportunity to understand and tackle the complex challenges of the energy transition. An innovative approach combines a lecture part, a seminar part and a practical part. In the practical part, students apply the knowledge they have acquired in a specially programmed serious game and thus learn about the mechanisms of the energy transition in a playful way.

“I am delighted that the team responsible for the course “Shaping the Energy Transition” has been awarded the Hessian University Prize for Excellence in Teaching this year,” says Heribert Warzecha, Vice President for Studies, Teaching and Diversity at TU Darmstadt. “The lecture is an outstanding example of how our guiding principles for good teaching are put into practice: Academics from different disciplines work on socially highly relevant issues. The students take part in an interdisciplinary and innovative teaching format in which they are taught current research questions and results in a practical way.” In the interview, Professor Knodt from the Institute of Political Science (Department of Social and Historical Sciences), Professor Steinke from the Department of Energy Information Networks and Systems and Professor Niessen from the Department of Technology and Economics of Multimodal Energy Systems (both from the etit department) present their course.

Interview with Michèle Knodt, Florian Steinke and Stefan Niessen

Congratulations on winning the Hessian University Prize for Excellence in Teaching! What is special about “Shaping the energy transition”? How is the course structured?

Professor Michèle Knodt: Thank you very much for the congratulations. We are also very pleased about this recognition. The special quality of the course “Shaping the energy transition” is the interdisciplinary approach, which brings together students from political science and engineering to jointly understand and tackle the complex challenges of the energy transition. The course is unique because it integrates technical, political, economic and social aspects of the energy transition. This broad approach means that students are not only challenged on a scientific level, but also gain practical insights into real-life decision-making situations through the specifically developed serious game. This enables them to apply theoretical knowledge in a simulated, practical context.

The structure of the course is divided into three main parts. Firstly, there is the lecture part, in which the basics of the energy transition are taught from a technical, economic and political science perspective. This is followed by the seminar part, in which students work in interdisciplinary teams to analyze and present current studies on the energy transition. The third part is the practical part, the so-called “energy transition game”. Here, students simulate the implementation of the energy transition up to the year 2045. This structured approach, which combines theory and application, ensures a deep understanding of the subject matter and promotes the ability to deal with complex issues in a realistic environment.

Energy is a central topic that researchers from (almost) all disciplines at the TU are working on. Where did the idea for the event emerge from and how does it complement energy research at the TU?

Professor Florian Steinke: The idea for the course arose from student demand to analyze and understand the complex process of energy transformation from both a political science and technical perspective. We took this up. Based on our joint research with Professor Michèle Knodt and Professor Stefan Niessen as well as our work in the E+E research field and in the “Integrated Energy Systems” profile topic, the three of us and our respective teams developed the “Shaping the Energy Transition” course a year in advance.

The central component of “Shaping the energy transition” is a specially developed serious game, the “energy transition game”. What is it about and what does it teach the students?

Professor Stefan Niessen: Over the time of the course, the students take on an increasingly active role. In the lecture part, they are in the classic role of students. They absorb information. In the seminar part, they take a critical look at studies, question the accuracy of the statements and the interests of the authors and clients. Finally, in the energy transition game, the students take on a creative role. Interdisciplinary teams of five students each make investment and trading decisions in five-year stages over the period from 2020 to 2045 from the perspective of electricity producers, industrial companies and private households. And every five years, they choose from three political parties, two of which must form a coalition. The elected government then determines the political framework conditions (such as taxes, subsidies, bans, new debt) for the next five years. A computer simulation then calculates the resulting costs, profits or losses, taxes and household satisfaction and, last but not least, CO2 emissions.

Although the game still simplifies many aspects compared to reality, only a few teams manage to achieve climate neutrality by 2045, even though we play in a constructive game mode in the first round, in which all players share their information and consider together what the best decisions are. In the second round, the players then act selfishly in favor of their respective roles. In this mode, no team has ever succeeded in achieving the climate targets.

How is interdisciplinarity reflected in the course?

Professor Michèle Knodt: The interdisciplinary nature of the cours is reflected above all in the collaboration between students from different departments. Engineering and political scientists work together on the challenges of the energy transition. Both technical and political topics are covered in the lectures and seminars, and these disciplines are brought together in the simulation game. The students benefit from an in-depth understanding of the other discipline, which makes the collaboration in mixed teams particularly valuable. This interdisciplinary approach also makes it clear that the energy transition can only be successfully implemented through cooperation between various scientific and social stakeholders.

You promote diversity and gender balance with your course. The students are around 60 percent male and 40 percent female as well as some diverse participants. In total, students from 18 different countries were represented. Why is this aspect important to you?

Professor Florian Steinke: Diversity is a crucial factor for us, as the energy transition is a global challenge that requires different perspectives and ideas. A diverse group of students - be it in terms of gender, nationality or professional background - enriches the discussions with different perspectives and promotes innovative approaches to solutions. Our goal of a successful energy transformation on a global level also requires different people to be able to work well together in application. We are already practicing this on a small scale here.

The event is now firmly integrated into the curriculum and will take place for the fifth time in the winter semester 2024/25. What is the recipe for success? Why is it so well received by the students?

Professor Stefan Niessen: The course’s recipe for success lies in the close integration of theory and application. Students can apply their knowledge directly in the energy turnaround game, which makes the theoretical content tangible. In addition, interdisciplinary cooperation and the practical learning format are decisive factors. The combination of lectures, seminars and the serious game offers students a unique opportunity to get to grips with the energy transition. They particularly appreciate the practical insights and the opportunity to make decisions and see their consequences in a protected environment. This type of learning remains a lasting memory.

Interview: SCC, TU Darmstadt

Video: Hochschulpreis für Exzellenz in der Lehre 2024: Energiewende gestalten
Further insights are presented by a video on the course on YouTube.