Applications open for 2024 Christian Hecht prize for scientific work in deep geothermal

Christopher Schifflechner, winner of the 2023 Christian Hecht Prize (source: Tiefe Geothermie)

Applications are now being accepted for the 2024 Christian Hecht Prize for the best young scientific work on deep geothermal energy. The application deadline is on 13 September 2024.

The application should contain an abstract (approx. 3,000 characters) that briefly presents the work and the results, as well as a CV. Applications must be sent to agentur@enerchange.de.

The Christian Hecht Prize recognizes young scientists who research application-oriented topics on deep geothermal energy. Spatially, the work should concentrate on the Bavarian Molasse Basin and/or the Upper Rhine Graben. Both areas are geologically extremely interesting for deep geothermal energy.

The prize will be awarded for the at the Praxisforum Geothermie.Bayern. The industry event will take place from October 16th to 18th, 2024 in the Pullach community center in the Isar Valley.

Application criteria

Master’s students and doctoral students who are researching topics relevant to deep geothermal energy can apply. You should have already completed the work or carried out research that led to reliable results. However, the master’s or doctoral thesis should not be completed before 2023.

A jury made up of scientists and industry representatives decides on the award of the Christian Hecht Prize.

In addition to free entry to the Geothermie.Bayern practical forum, the winner will receive attractive prize money and the opportunity to present their own work to well-known representatives and companies from the geothermal energy industry as part of the award ceremony on October 17th, the day of the congress . There is also the possibility of a presentation as part of a webinar with international reach for the best and second best work.

Practical and relevant topics

The winner of the Christian Hecht Prize 2023 is Christopher Schifflechner with his work on the topic “Efficient and flexible geothermal systems for the joint provision of electricity, heat and cold”. The work was created as part of his doctorate at the Technical University of Munich (TUM).

It deals with the increasing importance of additional cooling through environmentally friendly and efficient sorption refrigeration machines in conjunction with deep geothermal energy, whereby new challenges in integration into joint heating and cooling projects were identified and evaluated thermo-economically.

“The excellent work analyzes the diverse possibilities for using geothermal heat. The work compares and optimizes various operating strategies,” said Dr. Christian Pletl from Stadtwerke München in his laudatory speech.

Source: Tiefe Geothermie