IAI

Tenure-Track Professor Benjamin Schäfer, head of the Helmholtz Young Investigator Group Data-Driven Analysis of Complex Systems (DRACOS), was honored with the 2026 Ecology Award of the Viktor & Sigrid Dulger Foundation 2026 by the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (German: Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften). The award ceremony took place on June 20, 2026, in a festive setting during the HAdW’s 2026 annual celebration in the Alte Aula of Heidelberg University.

Dr. Schäfer is working to increase the stability and resilience of the power grid using transparent, explainable AI methods. He combines physical modeling, machine learning, and open data to quantify fluctuations in the energy system and explain their causes. In his award-winning work, Schäfer, together with colleagues from Potsdam, Oldenburg, London (UK), Ås (NO), Dresden, and Klagenfurt, developed a data-driven load profile. This could be used in the future to better regulate the balance between supply and demand. Energy providers use consumption data to estimate the required electricity on a timescale ranging from seconds to days. These estimates are based on a standard load profile, which is partly derived from measurements taken many years ago. However, modern households now have new and volatile devices (solar panels, electric cars, smart devices) that can lead to rapid fluctuations in consumption. To ensure the power system remains stable and cost-effective in the future, we therefore need flexible methods to estimate electricity consumption at high resolution. “The better we know consumption in advance, the better we can plan power generation or interim storage,” says Schäfer. [1]

Original publication

Data-driven load profiles and the dynamics of residential electricity consumption
Anvari, M.; Proedrou, E.; Schäfer, B.; Beck, C.; Kantz, H.; Timme, M.
2022. Nature Communications, 13 (1), Art. No.: 4593. doi:10.1038/s41467-022-31942-9

[1] Press release Heidelberg Academy of Sciences Awards Prizes for Pioneering Research in Baden-Württemberg (PDF, April 28, 2026, German only)