Thesis

Identification of ecosystem roles

Renewable energy alone cannot address climate change. In order to compensate/counteract the weak points such as storage, transport, or even more sectors besides the energy budget, hydrogen is the ideal solution. It allows electrical energy to be converted to hydrogen, stored, transported more easily, and used elsewhere. But the complex value proposition of the hydrogen economy cannot be carried by one company alone (see electromobility). By building an initially regional hydrogen ecosystem, all relevant partners can be connected and together focus their strengths on the market, generating value for all.
However, despite the many advantages of such an ecosystem structure, little is known so far about possible set-up organizations, role types, and the different actors. The task is to identify relevant roles in different hydrogen-based ecosystems, show the interconnectedness, name missing actors, and identify weak points that question the feasibility of the value propositions. Particularly relevant are the critical roles within the ecosystem. This can be done using interviews, netnography, web mining, or other methods.

We offer flexible and regular supervision, support in learning scientific methods, and room for design to incorporate your interests into the thesis!
- You will investigate exciting research topics in the future industry of hydrogen
- Collaboration in the future cluster hydrogen of the RWTH (information about the future cluster: http://h2-cluster.de)
- Space for your ideas and interests
- Development of your economic & scientific skills
- You will help to build up a regional hydrogen ecosystem
- You can establish practical contacts and recommend yourself for a Ph.D. with a very good thesis

If you are passionate about the topic, please send your CV, a short cover letter, and a recent grade summary to nepute@time.rwth-aachen.de

Keywords: Ecosystem, innovation, innovation ecosystems, strategy, technology, management, hydrogen, H2, renewable energy, organizational structure, roles