Behnam Zakeri is an Assistant Professor and Deputy Head of the Institute for Data, Energy, and Sustainability (IDEaS), Vienna University of Business and Economics (WU). In addition, he has a part-time appointment as Senior Research Scholar with the Energy, Climate, and Environment (ECE) program at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria. Dr. Zakeri investigates the role of market mechanisms, systems design, emerging technologies, and policies that enable a low-carbon energy system. He is one of the World's Top 2% Scientists identified by Stanford University, and his contribution to the field of energy system modeling and energy storage solutions has been recognized in the research community with multiple best-paper awards and high-impact publications.

Dr. Zakeri is an advocate of science for policy with +10 years of experience working in research institutes, energy utilities, NGOs, and public agencies exploring different pathways to increase energy security, affordability, and sustainability. He has consulted multi-billion dollar funds and projects for international organizations, such as the United Nations and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and several national ministiries by developing energy and emissions pathways for different world's regions with various challenges and potentials in transforming the energy system. Some examples include (alphabetically), Brazil, Central Asia, China, Egypt, Finland, Germany, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, the Nordic countries, Russian Federation, Pakistan, South Korea, South Caucasus region, UK, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
Dr. Zakeri's position at WU is funded by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation, and Technology (BMK) under the endowed professorship for "Data-Driven Knowledge Generation: Climate Action".