Sustainable Energy Systems Engineering: Urban Energy Transition Pathways – DAS

Professionals willing to lead a sustainable urban energy transition, active in:

• Urban Governance (urban planners, sustainability officers, policymakers, etc.)
• Consulting (climate and energy plans, smart city/building, environment, etc.)
• Energy or Sustainability Sectors (utility providers, renewable energies developers, etc.)

Cities are confronting major challenges — from rising energy demand and air pollution to traffic congestion and increasing climate vulnerability. As the urgency to advance sustainable development grows, the question becomes clear: How can climate ambitions be translated into a concrete, actionable local energy transition pathway?

The DAS in Sustainable Energy Systems Engineering: Urban Energy Transition Pathways is a true win-win project for organisations wanting to embrace energy transition, while investing in upskilling their workforce. Upon completion of the Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in Urban Energy Transition Pathways programme, the participant carries out an urban energy transition practical project, ideally within their employer’s organisation, while benefiting from the expert advice of EPFL and HES-SO professors.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to equip your teams with the right skills today to lead energy transition pathways tailored to local needs.

Be able to understand, model, and design an energy transition at the urban level, specifically to:

• Analyse complex urban energy systems – including production, distribution, and consumption dynamics – and identify opportunities for optimisation
• Identify key actors, drivers, and barriers influencing city-scale energy transitions across multiple levels of governance, from households to national policy
• Engage with stakeholders to co-design and quantify energy transition pathways towards net-zero in the urban environment, applying scenario modelling and multicriteria assessment
• Carry out an urban energy transition pathways project

The Diploma of Advanced Studies (DAS) in Sustainable Energy Systems Engineering: Urban Energy Transition Pathways combines face-to-face and synchronous online teaching and consists of:

• Completion of the CAS in Sustainable Energy Systems Engineering: Urban Energy Transition Pathways (7 months)
• Application project (min. of 600h)
• Report production
• Individual oral assessment

Title obtained: Diploma of Advanced Studies (DAS) in Sustainable Energy Systems Engineering: Urban Energy Transition Pathways delivered by EPFL, 30 ECTS credits. Consult the Academic Regulations

Step 1: CAS PROGRAMME & PROJECT DEFINITION 

• Completion of the CAS in Sustainable Energy Systems Engineering: Urban Energy Transition Pathways
  June, 2026 to January 2027
• DAS Application project topic definition, e.g: Develop a climate or energy plan for an urban area / Design an energy transition pathway for an urban area or neighbourhood / Identify barriers, levers and mitigation plan for renewable infrastructure, etc.
• Setting up the framework for project implementation within the organisation

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Step 2: DAS APPLICATION PROJECT
The application project represents a minimum of 600 hours of personal work carried out within a company (estimated completion time of 6 to 8 months at 50% activity rate on the project).

• Completion of a personal application project, ideally within the organisation of one’s own employer, that demonstrates the participant’s ability to holistically approach an energy transition project
• Supervision and advice from academic experts in the field
• Evaluation: Report and oral assessment

If your organisation (public or private) is looking to implement an energy transition project but lacks the necessary resources, you are in the right place. Sponsor and host a participant to lead a DAS application project within your company! Contact us for more information:
sustainable.energy@epfl.ch

• Human-Environment Relations in Urban Systems (HERUS), School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, EPFL
• Institute of Sustainable Energy, HES-SO Valais-Wallis, Switzerland
• Energy Center (CEN), EPFL, Switzerland
  

DAS Academic Leadership

• Prof. Claudia R. Binder, EPFL
• Prof. Jakob Rager, HES-SO

Steering Committee

• Prof. François Maréchal, Head of Industrial Process and Energy Systems Engineering group, EPFL
• Prof. Manuele Margni, Institute of Sustainable Energy, HES-SO Valais-Wallis
• Prof. Gaëtan Cherix, Director of the School of Engineering (HEI), HES-SO Valais-Wallis
• Prof. Sophia Haussener, Head of the Laboratory of Renewable Energy Science and Engineering, EPFL
• Dr. Yasmine Calisesi, Executive Director of the EPFL Energy Center
• Rigas Hadzilacos, Deputy Executive Director of Formation Continue UNIL-EPFL

Contact

For academic questions on MAS, DAS and CAS Sustainable Energy Systems Engineering:
sustainable.energy@epfl.ch

Course venue

• Online
• Onsite: EPFL, Lausanne & Sion, Switzerland
  

Course fee

20’000.– Swiss francs
CAS fees and industrial project supervision included

Admission requirements

Master’s degree from a higher education institution (EPF, HES, University), or another degree (in a field related to the programme) deemed equivalent by the Steering Committee*

* Exceptionally, candidates who do not meet the above requirements may be considered for admission, provided they can demonstrate a sufficient level of qualification with another engineering degree in a relevant domain and at least 5 years’ professional experience in the field.

Candidates interested in completing the DAS but uncertain about where to undertake their application project at the time of enrolment, should register for the CAS programme. They have the flexibility to secure an internship position at a later stage. Whenever possible, the programme organisers will facilitate connections with companies seeking interns.

Registration

Admission on file to submit to Formation Continue UNIL-EPFL. Please join to the registration form:

• Letter of motivation
• CV
• Copies of diplomas obtained
  

Registration deadline

31 March, 2026

Number of participants is limited

• Energies go Green, article (in English and French) published in the EPFL magazine “Dimension” on March 14, 2024