Postdoc: Business, finance & ownership for positive-energy districts

Do you want to contribute to advancing carbon‑neutral heating in Positive Energy Districts across the Netherlands? As a postdoc in the EmpowerED project, you will lead research on innovative financial and ownership models, map the investment landscape for electricity and heating, and analyse real‑world cases to design inclusive, just, and scalable solutions. By working with diverse partners such as universities, companies, NGOs, communities and citizens, you help shape transformative research and impact in the Dutch energy transition.

Your job
You will join the EmpowerED project, funded by NWO and led by Professor Floor Alkemade at TU Eindhoven, and work with colleagues at Utrecht School of Economics (U.S.E.) and in the Copernicus Institute alongside our partners in universities, companies, NGOs and municipalities as well as with local stakeholders and communities in case study cities.

EmPowerED aims to deliver a theoretically informed and empirically validated scalable and integrated systems co-creation approach for carbon-neutral heating that can be tailored to the specific local positive energy districts (PEDs). A PED generates more renewable energy than it consumes. But creating such a district is not just a technological task. It requires smart collaboration between residents, municipalities, housing associations, grid operators, and technology providers. Above all, solutions must be affordable, acceptable, and locally appropriate. The project addresses key knowledge gaps in citizen engagement, governance and technology. The consortium consists of 11 knowledge institutes, and 38 societal partners includes diverse citizen groups, civil society organisations, municipalities, grid operators, housing associations and technology & service providers, united in a community of practice. EmPowerED’s novel systems-design toolbox to co-create local heat solutions for PEDs will be tested in real-life use cases and experiments to ensure usability and capacity building.

You will lead research that focuses on novel financial and ownership arrangement that facilitate PED configurations, and business models for the different stakeholder groups. First, drawing on academic and grey literature, you map the financial landscape for investment into PEDs and PED-compatible heat solutions. Key issues are inclusive ownership arrangements, stages of development and investment sources determining risk and risk appetite. Second, you analyse the project’s use-cases (municipalities in the Netherlands) and study up to 10 external cases of innovative financing structures of PEDs, or similar large energy infrastructure investments regarding:

1. involvement of promising financial players;
2. relevant ownership/governance structures for realising (co-)financing; and
3. best practice justice outcomes.

Working in the interdisciplinary Utrecht University team across Economics and Copernicus, you will help to build our understanding of transformative change, focusing on questions of power, agency and systematic/structural change in relation to business models, governance and financing of innovative low-carbon energy technologies. Working with other colleagues across our partner institutions, you will help to identify the key dynamics that support transformative change and develop guidance for future practice. You will also support our collaborative and transdisciplinary research process and activities aimed at engaging and communicating with policy-makers and decision-makers at local, regional and national levels.

If aligned with both your professional development goals and departmental needs, the role may include up to 10% teaching (e.g. teaching a sustainability-related course and/or thesis supervision) for at least the first year of the appointment.

You have a strong interest in, and understanding of, sustainable finance and business models and governance models. As this position will require close collaboration with a range of partner organisations, you have the skills to reach both academic and non-academic audiences with your research outputs. You also have experience in techniques of research co-production and transdisciplinary research. Besides that, you have the following qualifications:

• a PhD in management, economics, finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, innovation studies, or a related discipline (if you have submitted your manuscript and are awaiting your defense date, you are invited to apply);
• publication experience and/or potential to publish research in high quality journals;
• working knowledge of relevant methods for analysing & interpreting qualitative data;
• interest in, or knowledge of, sustainable finance and sustainable/stakeholder-based business models;
• experience in research co-production or conducting transdisciplinary research;
• ability to work both in a team and independently;
• ability to write material of publishable quality to specified deadline;
• excellent communication and organisational skills;
• fluency in Dutch and English, both written and spoken (at least C1 level).

• A temporary position for 23 - 27 months, with a planned starting date of 1 March 2026;
• a working week of 28 - 40 hours;
• a gross monthly salary between €3,546 and €6,433 in the case of full-time employment (salary scale 10-11 under the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU));
• 8% holiday pay and 8.3% year-end bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave and flexible terms of employment based on the CAO NU.

In addition to the terms of employment laid down in the CAO NU, Utrecht University also offers a range of its own schemes for employees. This includes arrangements for professional development, various types of leave, and options for sports and cultural activities. You can also tailor your employment conditions through our Terms of Employment Options Model. In this way, we encourage you to keep investing in your personal and professional development. For more information, please visit Working at Utrecht University.

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University, the various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major strategic themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Pathways to Sustainability. Sharing science, shaping tomorrow.

The Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance is a faculty at the heart of society, with a strong focus on social issues. Our subjects of Law, Economics and Governance give us a strong mix of academic disciplines that complement and enhance each other. This is a unique combination and a mark of our faculty's strength.

The Utrecht University School of Economics (U.S.E.) is part of the Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance. U.S.E. aims to contribute to an economy where people flourish by taking a broad view on welfare and its causes. We aspire to be an internationally renowned school of economics with scientifically robust and socially relevant research and education. We enrich economics with other disciplines to better solve problems and identify opportunities, from a business as well as government perspective.

For more information, please contact Friedemann Polzin at f.h.j.polzin@uu.nl.

Candidates for this vacancy will be recruited by Utrecht University.