Starting from the 1^st of July 2021, David Bruhn becomes the new Coordinator of the Joint Programme Geothermal, following his election by the Joint Programme Steering Committee. Prof. Bruhn takes the place of Prof. Inga Berre, who has coordinated the Joint Programme for more than three years.

Besides being the Coordinator of JP Geothermal from January 2018 until June 2021, Inga Berre is professor at the Department of Mathematics, University of Bergen, and director of the recently established VISTA Center for Modeling of Coupled Subsurface Dynamics. She is also the principal investigator of the ERC Consolidator Grant: "Mathematical and Numerical Modelling of Process-Structure Interaction in Fractured Geothermal Systems" (2021-2026).

For the past three years, Inga Berre has been leading and coordinating the activities and initiatives of EERA JP Geothermal and will in July leave her role to David Bruhn. “I am enthusiastic to hand the leadership of EERA Geothermal over to David. He is well known in our community and has been a major contributor to EERA Geothermal in various roles since the programme was established in 2010. I am confident he will do a great job on behalf of geothermal energy research in Europe” expressed Berre.

David Bruhn will be covering the role of JP Geothermal Coordinator from the beginning of July. He aims to “serve as an anchor point for communication and interaction in research and innovation for the international geothermal community”, a role he sees as essential for EERA JPCs and for the successful contribution of the sector to the energy transition. “The European dimension of geothermal research has been a constant throughout my career in the field. The EERA provides a superb platform to prepare and discuss joint approaches, not only for and within the geothermal community but also in cooperation with other energy research fields in the context of system integration and cross-sectoral initiatives. As a Coordinator, I will strive to engage the participants of our joint programme in European efforts such that they can profit from and contribute to the activities of the great network established in the EERA. In this context, particular emphasis will be on the promotion of and generation of opportunities for younger scientists, so they can also benefit from the multiple career options available in the wider European framework. I look forward to working with this strong and vibrant community of researchers in communication and cooperation with public and industry stakeholders, and with the great support of the EERA institutions” Bruhn stated.

Currently, David Bruhn is professor for geothermal engineering at TU Delft, with another affiliation at Helmholtz Centre Potsdam (GFZ). He has more than 15 years R&D experience in geothermal energy projects, both as a scientific participant and as project coordinator. His research focus is on subsurface (geo-)mechanics, geological characterization of the subsurface, and on geothermal project development. He has been very active in the European geothermal research field, as a founding member of the EERA Joint Programme on Geothermal Energy, and as a coordinator of several large EU projects on topics such as exploration and induced seismicity. Before he joined TU Delft, he worked full-time at GZ Potsdam, spent some years in the USA at the University of Minnesota, at ETH Zürich, where he earned his PhD in experimental rock deformation, and at TU Clausthal, Germany, where he graduated in Geology.