PhD position in Advanced Modelling of Intelligent Electricity Systems

Do you want to design cutting-edge multi-scale modelling techniques and tools to accelerate the energy transition?

Department(s)

Electrical Engineering

Reference number

V36.5812

Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e, https://www.tue.nl/en/) is one of Europe’s top technological universities, situated at the heart of a most innovative high-tech region, with a wealth of collaborations with industry and academic institutes. In 2017, TU/e was ranked 15th in Europe in the Times Higher Educational World University ranking for Engineering and Technology. TU/e has around 3,000 employees and 2,300 PhD students (half of which international, representing about 70 nationalities).

Research Programme Description

The envisioned research is part of the research program Intelligent Energy Systems (IES) performed within the Electrical Energy Systems (EES) group of TU/e. Within the IES program, research is conducted into operation and planning of future sustainable energy systems, with an emphasis on electricity systems, markets and systems integration. This research is performed in two research labs: the Digital power and energy systems lab (EES DigiPES lab) and the Electricity markets and power system optimization lab (EES EMPDO lab). The former focuses on intelligent energy network research, including: demand management and flexibility, digital twinning, data analytics, smart grid ICT architectures and systems integration in multi energy systems. The latter specializes in electricity market design (centralized & decentralized), market products & system services to integrate new technologies, forecasting, market participation strategies and risk management, large-scale, distributed, multi-objective optimization techniques applied to energy markets and power systems and AI for optimization and control in power and energy systems. The EES group has strong ties with industry both nationally and internationally, with several part-time industry researchers working in the group and a large group of strategic collaboration partners.

Recently, the Electrical Energy Systems group received grants for nationally-funded projects in Intelligent Electricity Systems. Therefore, this group currently has multiple vacancies in this field. We are currently looking for researchers with strong computer science, modelling & simulation, and research software development skills that want to develop cutting-edge knowledge and software for theenergy transition.. The focus of the work will be on the application of intelligent software approaches (distributed control systems, distributed optimization, market mechanisms, multi-scale modelling, etc.), in electrical power systems (energy system flexibility coordination, local energy markets, capacity & congestion management, etc.).

PhD position: Designing and modelling future systems of energy systems

This PhD research is part of the DEMOSES project, which aims to develop a suite of coupled energy system models for the support of decisions of market parties, network operators and the government in the development of an efficient and reliable integrated, low-carbon Dutch future energy sector. Therefore, in this project, technologies for coupling models, such as multi-scale model integration and co-simulation, will be developed and applied to integrated energy systems, as the currently available models are not sufficiently capable of modelling an integrated energy system, e.g. with increased operational interaction between energy carriers and energy intensive sectors, such as transport and industry. DEMOSES is part of the ESI-FAR Energy System Integration Program  of the Dutch Science Foundation. In DEMOSES, three PhD Researchers and two eScience Engineers will cooperate with each other and with industry and knowledge partners. The aim of this PhD Research will be:

• To research advanced multi-scale modelling techniques and their merits in combining energy-system models for different system levels improving individual model accuracies and the descriptive power of the full model set.
• To develop a method and tools for multi-model energy systems integration simulations, based on co-simulation and multi-scale modelling, in a methodologically rigorous way.
• To research the opportunities for TSO-DSO integration to handle network congestion on multiple network levels using flexibility in the distribution grid responding to wholesale/balancing market prices and DSO incentives.

The third bullet is aimed at validating the results of the first two.

The position is supervised by prof.dr. J.K. Kok, dr. H.P. Nguyen and dr. C. Papadimitriou.

Working Context

The PhD researcher will work in close collaboration with experts and researchers from external industry and knowledge institutes, including the Dutch system operators for both distribution and transmission, two energy suppliers, an applied research institute and technical universities. Within the EES research group, and within the DEMOSES Consortium, the researcher will work in an scientific team with expertise in energy systems modelling, co-simulation, multi-scale modelling, uncertainty quantification and scientific software engineering.

We are looking for a highly motivated and pro-active candidate with good communicative skills and English language proficiency. As a PhD candidate you have obtained a master degree in Computer Science, Informatics, Applied Mathematics, or Electrical Engineering with excellent grades. Experience in (scientific) software development and/or modelling is a prerequisite. Candidates must have strong analytical skills, affinity with formal and simulation models, algorithmic solutions and have good programming skills. Candidates must be keen to work with external industrial and academic partners.

• A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university with the possibility to present your work at international conferences.
• A full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate evaluation (go/no-go) after nine months.
• To develop your teaching skills, you will spend 10% of your employment on teaching tasks.
• To support you during your PhD and to prepare you for the rest of your career, you will make a Training and Supervision plan and you will have free access to a personal development program for PhD students (PROOF program ).
• A gross monthly salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities.
• Additionally, an annual holiday allowance of 8% of the yearly salary, plus a year-end allowance of 8.3% of the annual salary.
• Should you come from abroad and comply with certain conditions, you can make use of the so-called ‘30% facility’, which permits you not to pay tax on 30% of your salary.
• A broad package of fringe benefits, including an excellent technical infrastructure, moving expenses, and savings schemes.
• Family-friendly initiatives are in place, such as an international spouse program, and excellent on-campus children day care and sports facilities.

More information

Do you recognize yourself in this profile and would you like to know more? Please contact
prof.dr. J.K. Kok, j.k.kok[at]tue.nl.

For information about terms of employment, click here or contact HR Services Flux, HRServices.Flux[at]tue.nl.

Please visit www.tue.nl/jobs to find out more about working at TU/e!

Application

We invite you to submit a complete application by using the 'apply now'-button on this page.
The application should include a:

• Cover letter in which you describe your motivation and qualifications for the position, including availability (starting date), and statement of interests. 
• Curriculum vitae, including full education and employment histories, publication record, proof of proficiency in English, and the names of at least three references that can be contacted.
• Scans of certificates showing BSc, MSc, and other courses followed, with grades and rankings.
• Up to two selected publications (e.g. MSc thesis, conference paper) in English of which you are the first or main author.

We will evaluate applications on a rolling basis in order of reception until a suitable candidate is selected.

We do not respond to applications that are sent to us in a different way.

Please keep in mind you can upload only 5 documents (only pdf files are accepted) up to 2 MB each. If necessary please combine files.