Prof. Dr. Florentina Paraschiv  is a Professor of Finance at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) with a strong research background in energy economics, sustainable finance, and banking. Her research explores how financial systems can better support the transition to a sustainable economy. Her work focuses on integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores into investment and lending decisions, helping investors and creditors consider climate and sustainability factors more effectively. As sustainability regulations and climate goals evolve, traditional financial models are being reexamined. Prof. Paraschiv`s research develops new methods to guide capital toward sustainable investments and emphasizes the need for energy and climate policies to be backed by clear, effective financing strategies.
Prof. Florentina Paraschiv earned both her PhD and Habilitation from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. She previously worked as Full Professor of Financial Economics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Norway (2017–2021) and subsequently held the Chair of Finance at Zeppelin University in Germany (2021–2025). Throughout her academic career, she has received several professorial appointments and academic calls from universities in Germany and the United Kingdom.

Prof. Paraschiv has received several prestigious distinctions in recognition of her research contributions. In 2026, she qualified for the UK Global Talent Fund. Earlier, she was awarded a Simons Fellowship in 2019, which supported a research stay at the University of Cambridge. In 2016, she received the ECOMFIN Best Paper Award at the Energy and Commodity Finance Conference in Paris, and in 2013, she was honored with the DK Gupta Memorial Best Energy Paper Award in Essen.

Audun Botterud PhD  is a Principal Research Scientist in Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS)  at MIT, where he leads the Energy Analytics Group. He also has an appointment in the Energy Systems and Infra­structure Assessment Division at Argonne National Laboratory. 

His research group at MIT applies decision science and operations research to study power systems and electricity markets, with a particular focus on the roles of renewable energy and energy storage. 

Audun holds a M.Sc. (Industrial Engineering) and a Ph.D. (Electrical Power Engineering), both from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He was previously with SINTEF Energy Research in Trondheim, Norway, and was recently a Visiting Research Fellow in the Energy Policy Research Group (EPRG) at the University of Cambridge.

Dr. David Gohsen is Head of Energy Trading & Portfolio Management at Evonik, where he leads the company’s global energy trading activities and is responsible for the strategic steering of energy procurement and portfolios across natural gas, electricity, and related markets.

His role spans the full value chain from market analysis and trading to Portfolio optimization, risk management, and regulatory positioning. A key focus lies on developing resilient strategies in increasingly volatile and uncertain energy markets, including the integration of renewable energies and long-term sourcing structures such as PPAs.

With more than ten years of experience at the intersection of energy markets, Portfolio management, and regulation, he combines deep industry expertise with a strong quantitative and analytical background, contributing to strategic discussions on the future of industrial energy systems and market design. Dr. Gohsen earned his doctorate in engineering from RWTH Aachen University, with research focused on techno-economic optimization and market-based energy system analysis.