Professor Benjamin Sovacool

Professor Benjamin Sovacool, Director of the Bennett Institute and Professor of Energy Policy at the University of Sussex Business School, has been named a Highly Ranked Scholar and ranked 1st in the world in both the Political Economy and Low-carbon Economy categories by ScholarGPS. He has also been ranked 79th in the world overall for the past 5 years of activity.

Professor Sovacool works as a researcher and consultant on issues pertaining to global energy policy and politics, energy security, energy justice, climate change mitigation, and climate change adaptation. More specifically, his research focuses on renewable energy and energy efficiency, the politics of large-scale energy infrastructure, designing public policy to improve energy security and access to electricity, the ethics of energy, and building adaptive capacity to the consequences of climate change.

Highly Ranked Scholars are the most productive authors whose works are of profound impact and of utmost quality. With much coverage of his work in the international news media, Professor Sovacool is one of the most highly cited global researchers on issues bearing on controversies in energy and climate policy. Among the ScholarGPS rankings, he has garnered numerous achievements, underscoring his world-leading position in his field.

Highly Ranked Scholar - Lifetime:

• 1st in the world for Low-carbon economy
• 2nd in the world for Climate change adaptation
• 2nd in the world for Nuclear power
• 4th in the world for Energy
• 4th in the world for Renewable energy

Highly Ranked Scholar - Prior Five Years:

• 79th in the world overall
• 1st in the world for Low-carbon economy
• 1st in the world for Political economy
• 2nd in the world for Economic power
• 2nd in the world for Mobilities
• 3rd in the world for Justice
• 4th in the world for Energy
• 5th in the world for Social Sciences

Commenting on Benjamin’s recognition, Professor Steven McGuire, Dean of the Business School, said:

“Benjamin's number one ranking reflects the profound impact his work has had on the academic community. Even more important is his profound influence on policymakers around the globe who seek to implement policies that embed concern for our environment into day-to-day life. Few academics ever attain the double impact of academic rigour and application that Professor Sovacool has achieved.”

Professor Mari Martiskainen, Professor of Energy and Society, Director of UKRI-funded £15m Energy Demand Research Centre (EDRC), and Co-Director of the Sussex Energy Group (SEG), has also been ranked 6th in the Low-carbon economy category. This recognises Professor Martiskainen as a Highly Ranked Scholar for her work over the past five years.

Professor Martiskainen's interests lie in how we can transition our energy, housing and transport systems to help create a just and fair Net Zero society by ensuring equal benefits from low carbon technologies and practices for everyone, as well as a fair distribution of costs and energy demand solutions. Her research has been published widely in journals and she regularly advises and works with government departments, not-for-profit organisations, business and consultants.

ScholarGPS is a scholarly analytics platform which ranks scholars and educational institutions based on their publications, profiles and other relevant criteria to accelerate research collaboration and track the latest research and development trends and opportunities.

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