The Research Academy stands for excellent basic research, scientific networking and the promotion of young researchers. It is the hub of IKEM, as it bundles all scientific work of the institute that deals with the fundamental legal, economic and political science issues of climate protection. In this interview, Dr Greta Reeh, Head of the Research Academy since October 2021, tells us more about how the Research Academy functions and works, as well as about current projects and the impact of her work.
What is the Research Academy?
The Research Academy is the newest department at IKEM. We do basic research there. At IKEM we have the departments of mobility, energy, climate and innovation, which do very specific work. At the Research Academy, we primarily have doctoral students, who want to work more broadly, for example by doing basic research in the field of climate law.
In addition to this content-related orientation of the Research Academy, we are the main networking point of IKEM. We offer opportunities, especially for doctoral students in the legal field, to exchange ideas. This applies not only to the Research Academy, but also to all other people, who work at IKEM and to external researchers, who come together here in many events, for example for doctoral student rounds or departmental discussions.
What projects is the Research Academy working on?
The Research Academy works primarily in a judicial context. However, we are involved in large research projects, in which we also work interdisciplinarily with other teams and with other research institutes. Our research focus is broad – the German energy transition and German climate law, but also international law projects and projects, for example on water, on the import of green hydrogen and on the German heat transition.
What impact does the work of the Research Academy have?
The work of the Research Academy is important for IKEM internally. We founded the Academy in order to be able to better connect researchers. For example, we support doctoral students, who work in other departments at IKEM. On the other hand, the Research Academy is also the publication centre of IKEM. We have the journal Climate and Law. But we also have other publications through which we reach a broad public with our research.