I will start this lecture with a short introduction to thermoelectric effects in general, their applications and arising challenges. The motivation to study thermoelectric effects in devices at the nanoscale is twofold. On one hand nanoelectronic devices are promising for applications in future information technology; naturally, cooling of these systems will be a true challenge that requires continued research efforts.
But there are also urging fundamental questions and new possibilities that emerge when studying the thermodynamics of nanoscale devices. This lecture will show how quantum effects (like a discrete energy spectrum) and the extremely small size of the devices (possibly smaller than the thermalization length) give rise to unexpected features relevant for thermoelectrics.