NSF2026: Conference Workshops to Identify Research Challenges at the Intersection of Energy and Equity in the Energy Transition

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With support from the NSF2026 program, researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst are conducting national workshops to identify research challenges associated with building a more efficient and effective energy system. A transition toward a less carbon-intensive energy system is underway globally. The challenge is to envision how the energy system might evolve in a way that is consistent with resources and needs. As a complex global socio-technical system with diverse stakeholders including individuals and communities, businesses, non-profits, and governmental organizations, understanding possible futures for the energy system requires synthesis across diverse disciplines. This workshop series brings together stakeholders, scholars from disciplines that include natural scientists and engineers with expertise in energy technology, and researchers in the social sciences and humanities. Together, they can systematically integrate science, technology, and human and social dimensions. The goal of the workshops is the identification of a research agenda at the intersection of the technological and social dimensions of future energy systems. The broader impacts to society of a research agenda informed by a diverse set of stakeholders include the emergence of more sustainable energy systems. The conference workshop series consists of two face-to-face workshops and several virtual meetings. The conference organizers are inviting participants from diverse backgrounds drawn from energy science and technology and social science and humanities fields. The organizers are recruiting conference participants from diverse populations, including those underrepresented in STEM research fields, to provide a broad range of perspectives. The workshops include incorporation of best practices and processes from team-based science that enable groups to jointly identify research needs and priorities. The organizers are planning to disseminate workshop findings widely to reach a broad audience. This conference workshop series is expected to result in new synergies among a broad, inclusive community of scholars and stakeholders that will advance research on the energy technology ecosystem.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.