Projects per year
Organisation profile
Introduction / mission
We research innovation and socio-technical transitions towards a more sustainable society.
Highlighted phrase
Inventions are great, but an invention is not yet an innovation, and not all innovations have a positive impact on society.
Organisation profile
Technological innovations offer many opportunities to address key societal challenges in areas like sustainable energy, mobility, Europeanization and Globalization. However, change is not only about the mere availability of such innovative technologies (like renewable energy technologies or cleaner cars), but rather requires a transformation of existing socio-technical systems: a transition. This includes changes in firm strategies, consumer behavior, social practices, institutions and regulations, etc. Different aspects of such transition processes cannot be studied in isolation, but require a broader, systems-oriented perspective. In our view, society shapes technological progress, but technological progress also shapes our society. Technologies intertwine with radical transformations in work, travel, communication, and private life.
The Technology, Innovation & Society (TIS) group at TU/e is unique in combining questions on innovation and long-term transitions, and aspire to be a leading group in this field worldwide. We have a strong embedding in relevant social science and humanities disciplines such as innovation studies, economics of innovation, Science- and Technology Studies (STS) TS, sustainability transition studies, and history of technology. We study sustainable innovation and transitions in systemic, transdisciplinary, and transnational perspective.
Societal relevance is at the heart of almost all we do at the TIS group. Many of our studies involve governments, companies, NGOs, and users. This helps us to enable smooth transitions and leverage the benefits of innovations, but interaction with these parties has also resulted in new research methodologies and approaches as well as significant contributions to theory development and refinement. With our work, we aim to contribute to a more sustainable society.
The research focus of TIS covers both short term processes (innovations) and long term, pervasive processes (transitions), and addresses multiple aspects of the innovation journey – invention, innovation, diffusion, appropriation, governance, policy intervention, and societal implications locally and globally. Moreover, we believe that innovation/transition questions should be studied in a close linkage with technology. Being part of a technical university, TIS fully uses the opportunities that arise from this unique positioning and has collaboration with other departments at its core.
Our work is along three main axes:
- The systemic axis: from individual elements to the system level;
- The temporal axis: from short term experiments to long term transitions;
- The geographic axis: local, regional, national, European, global and the entanglements between these scales.
We have a special focus on the application domains of sustainable energy, sustainable mobility, and (green) ICT.
Our group works with many collaborative partners, including:
- Dialogic Innovatie & Interactie
- Dutch Statistics (CBS)
- Foundation for the History of Technology SHT (our in-house research partner)
- PON (automotive, bicycles, industry)
- Rathenau Institute
- Rijkswaterstaat (Department of Waterways and Public Works, Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management)
- Solar Energy Application Centre (SEAC)
We also operate in many academic networks, including:
- Eurotech Universities
- Sustainability Transitions Research Network (STRN)
- Tensions of Europe: Research network on history, technology, and Europe. (international network based in Eindhoven)
Fingerprint
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Profiles
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Aakash Abraham
- Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences, Technology, Innovation & Society - Doctoral Candidate
Person: Prom. : doctoral candidate (PhD)
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Kazem Afradi, MSc
- Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences, Technology, Innovation & Society - University Researcher
Person: OWP : University Teacher / Researcher
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Lise Alkema, MSc
- Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences, Technology, Innovation & Society - Doctoral Candidate
Person: Prom. : doctoral candidate (PhD)
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SmartCORE: Smart Community-Owned Renewable Energy Management
Wieczorek, A. J. (Project Manager), Gardenier, A. M. (Project member), Abraham, A. (Project member), van Summeren, L. F. M. (Project member), Malheiros, B. (Project member), Abraham, A. (Project member), Alkemade, F. (Project member), de Coninck, H. C. (Project member), Wade, R. (Project member) & Devenish, A. (Project member)
1/01/25 → 30/06/28
Project: Third tier
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TKl2023-NSE5 North Sea Energy 2023-2024
Hauck, M. (Project Manager), Bekkers, R. N. A. (Project member), Alkemade, F. (Project member) & Wakounig, I. (Project member)
1/04/23 → 1/07/25
Project: Third tier
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FLEXINet:Intelligente flexibiliteit door geïntegreerde hybride opslagtechnologieën MOOI32037
Alkemade, F. (Project Manager) & Kluskens, N. (Project member)
1/04/21 → 31/10/25
Project: Third tier
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Academic and Public Lantern Lectures in the Netherlands through the Lens of the Educational Dispositif (ca. 1900s-1920s)
Notebaard, J. & van Vliet, D., 2025, Objects of Understanding: Historical Perspectives on Material Artefacts and Practices in Science Education . Heering, P. & Wittje, R. (eds.). Franz Steiner Verlag, p. 199-216 18 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › Academic › peer-review
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Academic research values: Conceptualization and initial steps of scale development
Kis, A. (Corresponding author), Tur, E. M., Vaesen, K., Houkes, W. & Lakens, D., 25 Mar 2025, In: PLoS ONE. 20, 3, 24 p., e0318086.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile12 Downloads (Pure) -
An implementation pathway for price formation mechanisms in local electricity markets
van de Water, P. R., Doumen, S., Campfens, J. K. E. K. (Corresponding author-nrf), Wieczorek, A. J. & Nguyen, P. H., Jun 2025, In: Energy Reports. 13, p. 6384-6396 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Downloads (Pure)
Datasets
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Data set academia and policy domain AI in the energy sector
Niet, I. A. (Creator), Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS), 13 Sept 2022
Dataset
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Disclosed Standard Essential Patents (dSEP) Database
Bekkers, R. (Creator), Catalini, C. (Creator), Martinelli, A. (Creator), Simcoe, T. (Creator) & Righi, C. (Creator), Published by the creators of the dataset, 1 Feb 2016
Dataset
Prizes
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2014 Freeman Award for The book series Making Europe. Technology and Transformations, 1850-2000
Schot, J. (Recipient), 17 Sept 2014
Prize: Other › Career, activity or publication related prizes (lifetime, best paper, poster etc.) › Scientific
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2021 International Windship Association (IWSA) - Completed Research Award.
Karlsen, R. (Recipient), Papachristos, G. (Recipient) & Rehmatulla, N. (Recipient), 2021
Prize: Other › Career, activity or publication related prizes (lifetime, best paper, poster etc.) › Scientific
Activities
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Sociotechnical Transitions Towards Circular & Sustainable Economies. The Case of Solid Waste Management in Ghana
Romijn, H. A. (Examiner)
20 Jun 2025Activity: Examination types › Examination › Scientific
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URBANE PROJECT: One health approaches to support agroecological transformation of peri-urban farming
Simataa, M. (Speaker) & Romijn, H. A. (Speaker)
16 May 2025Activity: Talk or presentation types › Plenary talk › Scientific
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From criminal to crucial participation: the case of Dutch volunteer hackers
Gardenier, A. M. (Speaker)
28 Apr 2025Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk › Popular
Courses
Press/Media
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Learning students to take the systems perspective
2/06/25
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
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Initiating challenge 'Systems Engineering for Energy Transition'
22/04/25
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
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Systems Engineering for the Energy Transition: An Interdisciplinary Challenge
22/04/25
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities
Student theses
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5G Business models: Considerations for organizations
Winnubst, D. E. (Author), Sadowski, B. M. (Supervisor 1), Papachristos, G. (Supervisor 2) & Raiteri, E. (Supervisor 2), 31 Mar 2023Student thesis: Master
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A Conceptual Design of the Battery Passport: An exploratory research into one of the most anticipated Industry 4.0 initiatives for the Electric Vehicle Lithium-ion Battery value chain
Baks, S. H. (Author), Höffken, J. I. (Supervisor 1), Alkemade, F. (Supervisor 2) & Bonnin Roca, J. (Supervisor 2), 31 Aug 2022Student thesis: Master
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Actors' influence on the implementation of MaaS: (re)defining the Dutch MaaS ecosystem and its inherent innovation risks
Leber, B. A. M. (Author), Sadowski, B. M. (Supervisor 1), Jeekel, J. F. (Supervisor 2) & Papachristos, G. (Supervisor 2), 31 Jan 2020Student thesis: Master
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