Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Sustainable Battery Technology for Renewable Energy Systems (ref...

We seek a research enthusiast with a PhD, who presents appropriate work performance and interest in investigating the potential of end-of-life batteries used in mobility (e.g., in electric vehicles (EVs) & micromobility) as an energy storage solution in renewable energy systems.

The position is associated with the project EMPOWER: Sustainable Batteries in Mobility - (Em)powering a Net-zero Energy Transition. This initiative has been recently funded by UiO:Energy Convergence Environments and will run over the period 2022-2027. EMPOWER takes interdisciplinary research and education perspectives to investigate the role of electric vehicle batteries in enabling a sustainable net-zero energy transition in Norway.

EMPOWER offers early career scientists an inspiring interdisciplinary research and education environment. You will be a part of a fantastic team at the University of Oslo, composed of eight senior researchers/professors and six early career researchers across four faculties and six departments, as well as a wide range of industry and international partners. The main supervisor(s) are named under each job advert, and you will be co-supervised by at least one core member from another discipline.

A Postdoctoral Research Fellow position is available at the Department of Technology Systems (ITS)  of the University of Oslo (UiO).

The fellowship is a full-time position with a fixed-term period of three years, of which 10% can be devoted to teaching-related compulsory duties.

An extended load of compulsory duties may be offered at the time of appointment, for candidates who can and want to contribute to teaching and supervision at the department as well as the EMPOWER project administration and management. In this case, the appointment period could be extended to four years, the compulsory duties will then be spread out over the full contract period, averaging 25% per year. 

Starting date: as soon as possible.

No one can be appointed for more than one Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Oslo.

Job & project description:

We seek a research enthusiast with a PhD, who presents appropriate work performance and interest in investigating the potential of end-of-life batteries used in mobility (e.g., in electric vehicles (EVs) & micromobility) as an energy storage solution in renewable energy systems.

The study will include:

1)  an experimental part, focused on characterization of second-life battery performance and their operation in laboratory-scale microgrids

2)  a theoretical part, focused on extended analysis of sustainability & circular economy perspectives in the EV/micromobility battery production and application

The position is associated with the project EMPOWER: Sustainable Batteries in Mobility - (Em)powering a Net-zero Energy Transition. This initiative has been recently funded by UiO:Energy Convergence Environments and will run over the period 2022-2027. EMPOWER takes interdisciplinary research and education perspectives to investigate the role of electric vehicle batteries in enabling a sustainable net-zero energy transition in Norway.

EMPOWER offers early career scientists an inspiring interdisciplinary research and education environment. You will be a part of a fantastic team at the University of Oslo, composed of eight senior researchers/professors and six early career researchers across four faculties and six departments, as well as a wide range of industry and international partners. The main supervisor(s) are named under each job advert, and you will be co-supervised by at least one core member from another discipline.

More about EMPOWER

Both the EU’s Green Deal and the EU Circular Economy Action Plan mention the centrality of batteries to sustainable futures. In Norway, transport is the highest greenhouse gas-emitting sector. To reach the vision of a Norwegian net-zero energy system by 2050, the decarbonisation of all transport segments is crucial. While batteries represent a central technology for zero-carbon transportation, they also pose complex socio-ecological problems. A holistic analysis of the battery role for sustainable transport in a net-zero energy system is still missing. EMPOWER will address this knowledge gap, proposing an interdisciplinary approach to study the diversity of challenges (social, environmental, material, market, legal) found in the design, production, use, re-use, and recycling of batteries. Using Norway as a case study, EMPOWER will focus on investigation of electric vehicle/micromobility batteries to: i) develop a common definition of sustainable batteries for mobility across industry and involved disciplines; ii) explore representations of this sustainability concept in EV production and utilization, including the energy system perspective; iii) determine how the inclusion of this interdisciplinary set of criteria, for the sustainability of EV/micromobility batteries, impacts the design of net-zero energy systems; and iv) co-design educational offer for young people and early career researchers to facilitate their interdisciplinary understanding of battery-cantered research.

We are looking for people who are motivated to work towards a sustainable transition and are excited to collaborate with researchers from various disciplines.

For more information and how to apply: https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/230517/postdoctoral-research-fellow-in-sustainable-battery-technology-for-renewable-energy-systems