Connecting Research with Industry: Five PhD Students Supported to Attend EECON 2026
The API is supporting five PhD researchers to attend EECON 2026 in Brisbane this November, helping strengthen connections between university research, industry innovation and the future of Australia's electricity networks.
Made possible through funding from the Centre for New Energy Technologies (C4NET), this initiative will provide five PhD students with the opportunity to attend the EECON 2026 National Conference on 10–11 November, alongside an industry site tour hosted by Energex/Energy Queensland on 9 November.
Hosted by the Electric Energy Society of Australia (EESA), this year's conference explores the theme Energy Unplugged: Data, Decarbonisation and Decentralisation, bringing together researchers, industry leaders and technical specialists to explore the challenges and opportunities shaping Australia's energy future.
Connecting research and industry
The five supported researchers are exploring emerging technologies and innovative approaches to some of the electricity sector's most pressing challenges.
Their research spans areas including distributed energy resources, microgrids, smarter electricity networks, energy efficiency and integrated system planning.
These areas closely align with C4NET's objectives of supporting new energy technology adoption, improving network efficiency, enabling better consumer outcomes and strengthening collaboration between universities and industry.
Through EECON, the researchers will have opportunities to:
Connect with industry professionals, network operators and technology specialists.
Gain insights into real-world challenges and emerging industry priorities.
Explore opportunities to translate academic research into practical industry applications.
Build professional networks and identify potential future collaborations.
The industry site tour will provide an additional opportunity to see electricity network operations and innovation in practice.
Building innovation capability for the future
This initiative directly supports the API's strategic goal to Build Innovation Capability in Our Workforce and Universities, recognising the important role that collaboration between researchers and industry plays in accelerating innovation across the power sector.
By connecting emerging researchers with the organisations and professionals shaping Australia's energy transition, the API is fostering opportunities for knowledge sharing, collaboration and innovation that benefit both universities and the wider power sector.
We thank C4NET for making these opportunities possible, and Energex/Energy Queensland and EESA for supporting valuable industry engagement experiences.
We look forward to welcoming the five PhD researchers to EECON 2026 and hearing how their experiences help inform their future research and careers.
Learn more: C4NET | EECON 2026
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