Recently, Zhang Ruining, a doctoral student from the center, attended the 37th Young Energy Economists and Engineers Seminar (YEEES) in Florence, Italy, and conducted academic exchanges on research topics including low-carbon energy transition, energy policy and residential energy consumption behavior.

The Young Energy Economists and Engineers Seminar is a working paper symposium for early-career scholars in the fields of energy economics, energy engineering and energy system modeling. Founded in 2006, the seminar has long been committed to providing a platform for doctoral candidates and early-career researchers to present work-in-progress papers, receive peer feedback and expand their academic networks. The 2026 edition was held in Florence, Italy in April 2026, hosted by the Florence School of Regulation (FSR). Affiliated with the Robert Schuman Centre at the European University Institute (EUI), FSR conducts research, training and policy exchanges focusing on areas including energy regulation, energy policy, market design and low-carbon transition, serving as a key platform for energy policy and regulation research in Europe.

The seminar adopted a mechanism combining working paper presentations and pre-review. According to the conference arrangement, selected participants delivered 15 to 20-minute paper presentations, which were reviewed by one senior reviewer and one junior reviewer. Meanwhile, each presenter also served as a junior reviewer to comment on other participants’ papers and prepare feedback materials in advance. This mechanism enabled participants to read relevant papers thoroughly before formal presentations, and focused on-site discussions more closely on research questions, methodological design, result interpretation and directions for paper improvement.

During the conference, Zhang Ruining exchanged views with doctoral candidates and early-career scholars from universities and research institutions across multiple European countries on topics including energy economics, energy system modeling, renewable energy integration, energy policy evaluation and low-carbon transition pathways. The discussions covered not only techno-economic analysis in energy transition, but also issues such as energy policy implementation, changes in residential energy consumption behavior, and distributional impacts in low-carbon development.

By participating in this seminar, Zhang Ruining received constructive feedback from scholars with diverse research backgrounds, and further refined her understanding of problem framing, methodology selection and result presentation in research on low-carbon energy transition. Meanwhile, she established academic connections with a number of early-career scholars, laying a solid foundation for subsequent paper revision, research expansion and international academic exchanges.