Energy and Climate as Topics at OPEC’s Vienna Energy Scholarship Program

This year, OPEC announced the Vienna Energy Scholarship Programme (VESP) for the first time, with which the Vienna-based organization of oil-exporting countries aims to promote exchange and understanding of its activities. Isabella Goger is currently studying for a Master’s degree in International Business and Engineering at the University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien and was able to qualify for participation in the first VESP with her application.

The scholarship is divided into two parts. The first, five-day part of the program took place in mid-October.  The participants – young students and professionals – were given insights into OPEC’s processes and structures, while the individual days of the event also included lectures on the future of energy production, discussion panels organized by the City of Vienna on city-related climate and energy issues, and debates on challenges for the environment and how to manage the energy transition. “I definitely went into the program with a critical eye,” Goger reports. “In doing so, it was exciting to see that OPEC is also open to such discussions. And it was also shown that OPEC not only tries to match supply and demand, but also prepares a lot of data in this area to thus show short-, medium- and long-term energy perspectives.”

Goger was attracted to participating not only by the opportunity to gain insight into a large, international organization. “The International Industrial Engineering program is broadly based, and energy technology is also an important topic here. In this respect, the VESP fits in well with my current training,” says the student.

In addition to the professional exchange, the program also included a reception with the Mayor of Vienna and the OPEC Secretary General during the first week. At the end of the first part of the program, the participants had to give presentations in groups with proposed solutions to given questions. Part two of the VESP will then take place next year in the form of a visit for several days to one of the OPEC member countries – including a technical and cultural program.