The Kleinman Birol Fellowship, offered by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and the International Energy Agency, gives Penn students a unique opportunity to spend a summer in Paris conducting research on the future of energy.
STRATEGIC SUMMER
When Wharton M.B.A. student Khushboo Goel, WG’19, received two competing summer offers—one at the United Nations and the other at the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris—the decision was “surprisingly easy” she said.
“While I knew that I wanted to work in an intergovernmental organization, the IEA fellowship also offered specific experience in the field of energy,” said Goel. “And this is where I want my career to go.”
The Kleinman Birol Fellowship, which made Goel’s experience possible, was established in 2017 through a special partnership between Penn’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and the IEA, where Penn Carnot Prize winner Fatih Birol is currently the executive director.
This is an opportunity you don’t get often. The opportunity to access all of the top knowledge in world energy. The opportunity to work with people from around the world. The opportunity to learn and work on something you are interested in—while at the same time coming home with an international publication.”—Khushboo Goel, WG’19
Birol envisioned bringing a Penn graduate student to Paris for an in-depth summer work experience in energy. Last summer, that became a reality for Peter Sopher, WG’19, a Wharton M.B.A. student. This year, Goel became the second Kleinman Birol fellow and spent her time researching deep decarbonization strategies in India and the United States, work that will culminate in an insight paper on the IEA website.
MAKING GLOBAL CONNECTIONS
“I picked this project because I’m invested in what’s happening in India and the U.S., and I see myself working in one of these countries,” said Goel, who is originally from Delhi and is currently president of the Wharton India Economic Forum.
Goel says her experience at the IEA was “above and beyond” what she hoped for. Unlike a typical internship, Kleinman Birol fellows select and design their own projects, she explained. Because of this, she was connected to internal specialists who mentored and directed her. And these types of connections went beyond the walls of the IEA. Near the end of her fellowship, Birol arranged a meeting to introduce Goel to India’s ambassador to France. Goel was able to personally share her research with the ambassador—one of the highlights of her summer.
HELP US DRIVE ENERGY SOLUTIONS
The Kleinman Center offers Penn students like Goel the chance to experience life-changing, career-launching summer work opportunities in the fields of energy research and policy. To learn how you can help support student internship programs and fellowships at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, contact Ben Ginsberg by email or phone at 215-898-0469.
