Thirteen early career researchers from the hyBit project participated in a hyBit Winter School in Cottbus on November 24-28, 2025. The group included five FGRES team members – Cristina Oballe, Olga Masyutina, Cosme Polese Borges, Karl Fehrs and Jannes Katner. The objective of the Winter School was to learn about industrial transformation and the development of a hydrogen economy in the region of Lusatia – a region that has depended heavily on coal mining and energy-intensive industries, and is now undergoing significant structural changes.
The participants had a busy program with internal presentations and discussions as well as a number of interesting talks from local stakeholders that gave many insights into recent history and current developments in the region. External talks included presentations by the BTU Energy Innovation Centre, Competence Centre on Climate Change Mitigation in Energy-Intensive Industries (KEI), PtX Lab, Referenzkraftwerk Lausitz GmbH, ASG Spremberg, Lausitz Science Park and the local development agency Wirtschaftsf?rderung Cottbus. A true highlight of the winter school was a visit to the open pit coal mine Welzow-Süd to see active mining of lignite and the LEAG company’s restoration efforts. The Winter School offered a great opportunity for the early career researchers to get new information about transformation processes in Lusatia, to network and to have a valuable interdisciplinary exchange.
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