Post-Doctoral Researcher/Senior Post-Doctoral Researcher, MaREI/School of Engineering and Architecture

2.5 Years, Fixed-Term, Whole-Time Post

Please note that this position can be filled at Post-Doctoral or Senior Post-Doctoral level, depending on qualifications and experience of the successful candidate.

Position Summary

Role of the Researcher: Applications are invited for the post of Post-Doctoral Researcher/Senior Post-Doctoral Researcher in power systems engineering to join an ambitious new research project called AUTONOMY, hosted at University College Cork, Ireland. The AUTONOMY project has recently secured more than €1M in funding from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and will be supported by the MaREI SFI Research Centre (www.marei.ie) and its industry and community partners.

The AUTONOMY project aims to design, develop, and demonstrate the first fully-autonomous community energy management system. Inspired by recent advances in artificial intelligence, AUTONOMY will create new tools to manage electrical energy resources at the local level and maximise the economic benefits for individuals and communities when interacting with the energy markets. AUTONOMY will pioneer a novel transfer learning approach to exchange expert knowledge amongst energy manager agents in different communities across the grid, as part of a wider strategy to decentralise grid energy balancing and coordinate multiple energy resources at the local level. 

The ideal candidate: The ideal candidate will hold a PhD in power systems engineering or a related discipline, and will have experience of modelling power systems using industry standard software tools. The candidate should have a track record of research excellence and should have existing publications (or be able to demonstrate the ability to publish) in the top international journals in the field, including IEEE PES Transactions. Experience of carrying out research projects in collaboration with industry partners would also be an advantage.

Working location:  The successful applicant will be based at the historic main campus of University College Cork (https://www.ucc.ie/), located a short walking distance from the centre of Cork city. UCC is a welcoming, diverse, and modern workplace, and is one of the world’s most sustainable Universities, holding a top ten place in the UI GreenMetric World University Rankings since 2010. 

The MaREI Centre of Energy, Climate and Marine (www.marei.ie) is the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) centre of excellence in Energy, Climate and Marine research in Ireland.  The MaREI Centre includes 13 Universities, Third Level Institutes and Research Organisations, has 103 industrial partners and has research funding of approximately €60m.  It combines the expertise of a wide range of research groups and industry partners, with the shared mission of solving the main scientific, technical and socio-economic challenges across the energy, climate, and marine domains. 

Further information: The successful applicant will work under the supervision of Dr. Barry Hayes, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Power Systems Engineering and a Funded Investigator in the MaREI Centre at UCC. The successful candidate will join a vibrant and international MaREI research community of more than 220 multi-disciplinary researchers and will take full part in MaREI Centre events including industry and research seminars, the MaREI Annual Symposium, as well as outreach and public engagement activities. The Post-Doctoral Researcher/Senior Post-Doctoral Researcher contract will be for 2.5 years, with the possibility of extension beyond this period.

Project Title: AUTONOMY

Post Duration: 2.5 years

Salary:  Post-Doctoral Researcher: €42,781 - €49,177 p.a. (IUA PD1 Salary Scale), Senior Post-Doctoral Researcher: €50,540 - €54,966 p.a. (IUA PD2 Salary Scale)

For an information package including further details of the post see https://ore.ucc.ie/.  

Informal enquiries can be made in confidence to Dr. Barry Hayes, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Electrical Power Systems, School of Engineering and Architecture, University College Cork; Email: [email protected]

Applications must be submitted online via the University College Cork vacancy portal (https://ore.ucc.ie/). Queries relating to the online application process should be referred to [email protected], quoting the job-title and project name.

Candidates should apply, in confidence, before 12 noon (Irish Local Time) on Thursday, 29th February 2024.

No late applications will be accepted.

Please note that an appointment to posts advertised will be dependent on University approval, together with the terms of the employment control framework for the higher education sector.

UCC is committed to creating and fully embracing an inclusive environment where diversity is celebrated.  As a University we strive to create a workplace that reflects the diversity of our student population where people from a wide variety of backgrounds learn from one another, share ideas, and work collaboratively. UCC is committed to being an employer that recognises the value of diversity amongst its staff.  We encourage applicants to consult our policies at https://www.ucc.ie/en/edi/policies/ and initiatives at https://www.ucc.ie/en/edi/implementation/ and we welcome applications from everyone, including those who are underrepresented in the protected characteristics set out in our Equal Opportunities & Diversity Policy. 

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EMPLOYER