Nikas Scheidt researches pathways for sustainable development, with a focus on less-developed countries. He is particularly interested in technology development and international institutions for climate change mitigation.

Nikas Scheidt began his studies in International Business at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands in 2014. He began his double master's degree in economic development at the Universities of Groningen and the University of Lund in Sweden in the summer of 2017. There, he specifically focused on the roles of education, foreign aid and foreign direct investment for the sustainable development of developing and emerging economies.

Nikas spent some time getting experience in the field of international development cooperation through traineeships at the “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH” and at the Directorate-General for International Partnerships of the European Commission after finishing his university education. He joined the Chair of Economic Policy as a PhD research assistant in September 2020, where he is part of the Clean Circles project. His research has largely focused on the roles and interactions of (international) institutions and technology development in the mitigation of growth-induced environmental emissions.

• Sustainable development in developing and emerging economies through the decoupling of economic growth and environmental emissions.
• The development, diffusion and effects of climate change mitigation technology innovation and transfer.
• The role of national and international institutions in the diffusion of renewable energy.
• Interactions between institutions and technology for sustainable development.

• since 2020: PhD student and research assistant at the Chair of Economic Policy, Institute of Economics (ECON), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
• 2020: Blue Book Trainee at the Department Budget Support, Public Financial Management and Domestic Revenue Mobilisation of the Directorate-General for International Partnerships of the European Commission.
• 2019 – 2020: Intern at the Department of International Services, Afghanistan/Pakistan “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH”.
• 2018 – 2019: Master's degree in Economic Development and Growth (MEDEG) at Lund University, Faculty of Economics and Management, Sweden.
• 2017 – 2018: Master's degree in International Economics and Business at the University of Groningen, Netherlands.
• 2016: Semester abroad at Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea.
• 2014 – 2017: Bachelor's degree in International Business at the University of Groningen, Netherlands.

Supervised Theses

Clean Circles - Iron as energy carrier in a carbon neutral circular energy economy. Research Area 4:
Political-economic analysis. Focus: Innovation economics – Assistance to Prof. Dr. Ingrid Ott.

2023

• Institutional and Technological Drivers of Renewable Energy Deployment at the conference Transforming towards a sustainable society - challenges and solutions of the KIT Science Week in Karlsruhe, Germany.
• Identification of Renewable Energy Trademarks - a Classification Study using a Support Vector Machine at the DRUID conference 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal.
• Institutional and Technological Channels of Renewable Energy Diffusion at the “DRUID Academy 2023” in Aalborg, Denmark.

2022

• Tracing the Evolution of Metals and Chemicals as Energy Carriers and Storage Units at the “1st Workshop on Metal-enabled Cycle of Renewable Energy (MECRE)” in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
• The Roles and Interactions of Technology and International Institutions for Sustainable Development, at the Centre for Development Studies and the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation as part of a two-week research stay in Trivandrum, India.
• International Environmental Cooperation and Renewable Energy Outcomes, at "6th Global Conference on Economic Geography" in Dublin, Ireland.

2021

• The Environmental Kuznetsk Curve Implications for the Sustainable Development of Developing and Emerging Economies, at "KITZ Workshop on Innovation and Entrepreneurship" in Karlsruhe, Germany.