NEST Winter School at Fraunhofer ISI

Questionnaire: Abdullah Fahimi

from Christoph Ries /

This week, PhD students and junior researchers from the NEST PhD-Network and the STRN methodologies thematic group are gathering at Fraunhofer ISI. Each day we ask a participant of the NEST Winter School on “Methodologies and Methods for Sustainability Transitions Research” to complete a questionnaire. Day 2: Abdullah Fahimi.

Abdullah Fahimi

Who are you

My name is Abdullah Fahimi. I am a PhD candidate at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg. I work on energy transitions, renewable energy and energy policy.

How was your day?

It was very good and very informative. I have certainly gained more knowledge. For my PhD thesis I had already read the work by many scholars that I have now met in person, like Jonathan Köhler, Julia Wittmayer, Lea Fünfschilling. I found it particularly interesting to connect their talks to what they have said in their papers. That was really enriching.  

Can you give one example?

I find it hard to pin it down to one particular idea as were so many of it. But if I had to focus on one it would be Lea's. She said you should always focus on what is your ontology and epistemology. If you don't know that you don't know much about your methods and about how to conduct your research. When I go back home I will put more focus on that.

How is your research topic connected to the Winter School?

My research topic is “Energy Transitions in Afghanistan“. It is 100 percent connected to the topic of the NEST Winter School. Energy transition is a also transition of sustainability. Here we are studying the methodologies of it which I am really interested in.

What do expect of the week?

I expect to hear more about methodologies and to elaborate a little bit more on these methods. Also, I would like to develop some concrete ideas.