Postdoctoral Researcher

Dr. Martin Weibelzahl is a co-head of department and the Research Center Finance & Information Management (FIM) and a postdoctoral researcher at the Branch Business and Information Systems Engineering of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology (FIT). Dr. Weibelzahl also serves as a lecturer at the University of Bayreuth. The major focus of Dr. Weibelzahl’s research is in the field of digital energy and mobility. Here, he for instance investigates, how our economy and society can be decarbonized in a sustainable, secure, just, and affordable way using various (digital) technologies. With a continuously increasing share of renewable energies and a gradual shutdown of conventional power plants, the supply of electricity is becoming more volatile due to uncertain weather conditions. This leads to increasing deviations between the electricity produced and the electricity consumed and presents the electricity system with major challenges, including the prevention of power outages. As the design of markets will play a key role in a successful energy transition, Dr. Weibelzahl analyses how future market designs can, e.g., ensure sufficient flexibility to balance demand and supply in low-carbon energy systems. In addition, Dr. Weibelzahl aims at the development of decision support systems for companies and public decision makers. Here, Dr. Weibelzahl mainly uses methods at the intersection of operations research, AI, and mathematical optimization. Applications can be found in energy markets and the mobility sector. In the above research fields, Dr. Weibelzahl is involved in various national and international research projects. Close cooperation exists, for example, with the University of Luxembourg (Luxembourg), the University of Dundee (Scotland), the University of Southampton (England) or the Norwegian School of Economics (Norway). Dr. Weibelzahl has published several articles in renowned international journals such as Annals of Operations Research, Energy Policy, or European Journal of Operational Research. He also works as a reviewer for conferences and international journals such as Annals of Operations Research, Energy Economics, or Energy Policy. Furthermore, he regularly gives lectures and is an organizer of various international workshops and symposia. Dr. Weibelzahl completed his studies in the field of quantitative economics at Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in 2011. He then began his doctorate at the Chair of Business Mathematics within the Elite Network of Bavaria, which he successfully completed in 2016. After his doctorate, Dr. Weibelzahl worked as a postdoctoral fellow at RWTH Aachen University in 2017 in the research areas of Discrete Optimization and Advanced Analytics. Since 2018, Dr. Weibelzahl has been working at FIM, first as postdoc and project manager, since 2020 as head of research group.