SMARTGYSUM-ESR07: "Reliability and Availability of Smart Transformers for Cost Effective and high...

DESCRIPTION OF RECRUITMENT INSTITUTION

 Kiel University (CAU is a public German university, located in Kiel, Schleswig Holstein, with over 27.000 students and around 2.500 scientists and approximately 190 degree programs to choose from. The Chair of Power Electronics (CPE) is composed of 19 members, of which 5 are post-docs. It has more than 25 years of experience in the fields of power electronics with three focal points: (i) Modelling, Control and Reliability; (ii) Power Converters & Batteries and (iii) Electric Grid. Distinct research points have been carried out in the fields of Smart Transformer (ST), hybrid electric grids, device condition monitoring, high speed machine drives, fast charging station systems and testing of new batteries technology.

The Chair of Power Electronics is actively researching on the impact of power electronics into the grid, fault tolerant converters, Smart Transformers, GaN-based converters for DC/DC applications, high speed machine drives with multilevel SiC-based converters, high voltage and medium voltage Modular Multilevel Converters. The group has two laboratories, one low voltage and one for medium voltage applications, where up to 1MW circulating power is feasible.

 DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH GROUP AND TOPIC

 SMARTGYsum (SMART Green energY Systems and bUsiness Models) project groups together leading European Universities and Institutions (the consortium is composed of 13 universities and 14 companies/institutions) with the aim to implement a multidisciplinary and innovative research and training program, bringing to enable a new generation of Early Stage Researchers (ESR) to foster a New Green Energy Economy in Europe. ESR will acquire the knowledge, methods and skills across a wide range of disciplines around the Energy ecosystem, Renewable Electric Energy Systems and Business Models for the deployment of the Green Energy System. Trained ESR will have the technical and economical knowledge to break the barriers for the deployment of energy transition as market and social barriers (price distortion through externalities, low priority of energy issues, split incentives); financial barriers (investment, high up-front costs, lack of access to capital); information failures (lack of awareness, knowledge and competence); or regulatory barriers (restrictive procurement rules).

CAU invite applicants for a PhD Fellowship in Green Energy Systems to research in the topic “Reliability and Availability of Smart Transformers for Cost Effective and high Quality of Services in the Grid”.

The research topic will be contextualized in WP3 Smart Energy distribution, microgrids and grid of microgrids being supervised by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Marco Liserre (CAU) and co-supervised by Prof. Ryszard Strzelecki (Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland (GUT)), with two 2-months secondments at GUT and a 4-months secondment at MMB Drives (Poland). The student will acquire expertise in interdisciplinary fields, gaining through this training program a set of skills that are highly appreciated by power electronic manufacturers and system operators, providing him/her a valuable expertise background for a future career in the green energy industry.

The applicant will investigate the insertion and integration of smart devices in the grid, aimed at enabling autonomous grid management increasing reliability and availability of grid services. Among his/her tasks are: development of a hybrid grid feeding Smart Transformer (ST), analysis of different ST topologies, implementation of hardware and experimental validation of the obtained results.

The ESR will take part in the whole researching process, starting with the proposal of new ideas, going from the design to the experimental validation of prototypes in the laboratory and industry facilities, and finishing with the development of the business models.

 CONTEXTUALIZATION OF POSITION

 The position is in the frame of a H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks (ITN) action for Early Stage Researchers within the project SMARTGYsum (Research and Training Network for Smart and Green Energy Systems and Business Models). The grant covers up to 3 years of full-time research according to salary table established in the grant for Germany.

 APPLICATION

 For consideration, interested applicants should submit the required information by completing the form in https://www.smartgysum.eu/Home/Apply based on the instructions given. An attached document must be uploaded containing the curriculum vitae, a letter of interest and contact details of two references. All documentation should be in English and merged in a single PDF document. Please, note that applications which do not follow the announcement’s guidelines will not be considered.

For further information, please contact Dr. Eva Gonzalez-Romera ([email protected] ) for questions about application procedure and Dr. Marius Langwasser ([email protected] ) for questions about research objectives.

 CLOSING DATE

 24.12.2021