Staff Exchange: Equipping Students With the Knowledge and Tools Necessary to Contribute Effectively to Zero-Carbon Economy
As part of the EURECA-PRO European alliance, Université de Lorraine encourages staff mobility in order to strengthen academic cooperation and develop teaching and research practices centred on the challenges of the energy transition.
In this account, Ehsan Jamshidpour, a lecturer and researcher at Université de Lorraine (ENSEM), reflects on his mobility placement at Hasselt University (Belgium), which took place during the CEAD Summer School 2025: Zero Carbon Solutions for Hard-to-Abate Sectors, and on the educational and scientific opportunities that arose from it.
What motivated you to choose a mobility within the EURECA-PRO alliance, and why this partner in particular?
My main motivation for this mobility within the EURECA-PRO alliance was to share and exchange knowledge on more electric aircraft and CO₂ emission reduction with an international and interdisciplinary audience. I specifically chose Hasselt University because of its commitment to innovative education and its participation in the Circular Engineering Across Disciplines – Summer School CEAD, 2025 Edition – Zero Carbon Solutions for Hard-to-Abate Sectors program, which perfectly aligned with my research and teaching objectives. This program is designed to equip students with the knowledge and tools necessary to contribute effectively to the transition to a zero-carbon economy.
This mobility also gave me the opportunity to meet students from diverse academic and scientific backgrounds, which was very enriching and fostered a dynamic academic exchange.
How has your mobility enriched your teaching, research, or professional practice?
This mobility enriched my teaching by engaging with a very diverse audience in terms of nationality, discipline, and academic level. I had to adapt the content and scientific level of my courses on more electric aircraft and CO₂ reduction to make them both understandable and useful for everyone. This experience allowed me to develop new pedagogical methods to make my courses more interactive and accessible.
The exchanges with students, their questions, and comments also contributed to my research reflection, particularly on practical applications of zero-carbon solutions.
During this mobility, I also met two colleagues from Hasselt University working in renewable energy and photovoltaic systems. Their work complements my research within the GREEN laboratory.
What ideas, methods, or best practices have you been able to bring back to your institution, and what future collaboration opportunities do you see emerging from this mobility?
This mobility allowed me to introduce ideas and pedagogical methods at my institution suitable for an international and interdisciplinary audience. The need to make scientific content accessible to everyone inspired me to design more interactive and flexible teaching materials for our courses and projects.
Furthermore, the exchanges with students and academic staff at Hasselt University opened new opportunities for collaboration, particularly through student exchange programs, international internships, and joint research projects on zero-carbon technologies and energy transition. These collaborations will strengthen the international and innovative dimension of our laboratory and teaching programs.
Together with my colleagues at Hasselt University, we plan to propose a joint PhD project under the EURECA-PRO program on the topic “Energy Transition and Sustainable Energy Management”, responding to the current call for proposals. In addition, I have been invited to participate in the 2026 edition of the CEAD Spring School. I am very pleased to have established this scientific collaboration, which allows me to expand my knowledge, strengthen international partnerships, and acquire new methods in both research and teaching.
Original Version
This interview was originally published on 10 February 2026 in French by the Université de Lorraine.
We are pleased to share the English version with the EURECA-PRO community to make Ehsan Jamshidpour’s experience and perspectives accessible to a wider international audience.
