NextGen

About

NextGen at CERAWeek deepens the ever-important connection between academia and industry, creating a dynamic environment that cultivates top talent, uncovers fresh ideas, and discovers newfound energy transition pathways. This exciting new initiative builds on the already thriving innovation community at CERAWeek to help faculty source, fund, and scale impactful new concepts – and identify talent.

NextGen accelerates these connections through engaging programming, targeted networking events, and collaborative discussions that inspire and spark the next generation of talent, ideas, and alliances.

By fostering the industrial-academic nexus, NextGen ensures the formation of a motivated workforce and the emergence of novel solutions that drive lasting and meaningful change.

How to Particpate?

For any questions about the NextGen program, please contact us.

Contact Us

CERAWeek 2026

NextGen in Review

Discover how NextGen at CERAWeek 2026 connected academia and industry

to spark the next wave of talent and innovation

"NextGen at CERAWeek opened a door that no classroom could fully open. It helped me witness how energy, geopolitics, capital, and technology meet in the real world—with generosity, urgency, and purpose."

-Grace Tian
Master’s, Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

"CERAWeek's decision to include students is visionary. As a researcher and science communicator, experiencing the policy, finance, and business forces shaping energy makes me exponentially more effective."

-April Moreno-ward, Postdoctoral Research Associate, AASPI
The University of Oklahoma

"Attending CERAWeek as part of the UChicago delegation was one of the best weeks of my MBA. Presenting on Innovator’s Row and debating real tradeoffs with practitioners who live them daily was the highlight."

-Sumedh Wargantiwar
University of Chicago, Booth '26

"I've been coming to CERAWeek for over two decades. It's never lost the character of the premier conveing of the energy tribe that I really benefit from enourmously. The opportunity to cross paths with people from all sectors of the energy bsiness, the energy policy world, the energy research wrold, is really a unique experience."

-Dr. Ernest Moniz
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Energy Futures Initiative, 13th U.S. Secretary of Energy and Founding Director, MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI)

"I brought some students with me who are at the very beginning of their career, and they want to work in energy, and they're technical...their eyes are about a mile wide. We need to expose more of them to not just the single narrow part that they're going to work on but let them see the bigger picture. "

-Barbara Burger
Former President, Chevron Technology Ventures and Senior Advisor, Lazard

"...so many opportunities to raise visibility for what we're doing at Rice University - opportunities to get the pulse of the energy industry and understand what are the priorities, the needs, how people are thining about the energy transition."

-Marie-Nathalie Contou-Carrere
Executive Director, Rice University

"You have the academics here, the policy people are here, the entrepreneurs are here. Legends are here."

-Van Jones
CNN host, best-selling author and social entrepreneur, Dream Machine Innovation Lab

Session Formats

NextGen Pod

Featuring purpose-driven innovation and early-stage research at universities, energy and climate centers, and accelerators during 25-minute Pod sessions in the George Bush Ballroom of the Innovation Agora.

NextGen Lyceum Program

The Lyceum Program features seminars in a classroom lecture styled space on critical topics in early-stage research and collaborative innovation between academia, industry, government and fellows.

NextGen Amphitheater

Dedicated zone in the Nexus for discussions oriented toward advancing a passionate, diverse workforce, showcasing emerging innovation, and deepening collaboration between industry, academia, early-stage startups and government.

Sessions

NextGen Colloquium

Exclusive, interactive format with discussions focused on enhancing collaborative partnerships between industry, early-stage startups, government and academia.

NextGen Meetup

Small, informal gathering of communities that share a common interest.

Sessions

NextGen Dialogue

Senior officials from government, academia, industry, and startups share insights and strategies to attract talent and enable continued innovation.

Sessions

Innovators Row

Showcasing early-stage research from universities and incubators using posters, whiteboards, and other media at kiosks.

NextGen Huddle

Semi-private setting for intimate discussions with up to 6 participants, conducive for talent recruitment, and exploring research partnerships.

CERAWeek 2026 University Participation

Arizona State University	Northwestern University	University of Calgary
Boston University	Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)	University of California, Berkeley
Carnegie Mellon University	Oklahoma State University	University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
Colorado School of Mines	Oxford University	University of Chicago
Columbia University	Peking University	University of Houston
Cornell University	Penn State University	University of Michigan
Dartmouth	Prairie View A&M University	University of New South Wales
Duke University	Purdue University	University of Oklahoma
ETH Zürich	Rice University	University of Pennsylvania
Fraunhofer ISST	Stanford University	University of Rochester
Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi	Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg (TUBAF)	University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Harvard University	Technical University Munich (TUM)	University of Texas at Austin
IESE Business School at the University of Navarra	Tecnologico de Monterrey	University of Warsaw
Johns Hopkins University	Texas A&M University	University of Wyoming
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)	Texas Southern University	Vanderbilt University
Montana Technological University	University of Alberta	West Texas A&M University
North Carolina State University	University of Arkansas	Yale University
Northeastern University