Doctoral student in Power Electronics

KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm has grown to become one of Europe’s leading technical and engineering universities, as well as a key centre of intellectual talent and innovation. We are Sweden’s largest technical research and learning institution and home to students, researchers and faculty from around the world. Our research and education covers a wide area including natural sciences and all branches of engineering, as well as architecture, industrial management, urban planning, history and philosophy.

Third-cycle subject: Electrical Engineering

The position will be located in the power electronics research group within the school of electrical engineering and computer science at KTH. The group carries out research in several fields, notably high-power electronics for power transmission grids, and applications of wide-bandgap power semiconductors.

The ongoing electrification of road vehicles is now also moving to the field of commercial vehicles (trucks and buses) which currently cause 5% -- 7% of the total global CO2 emissions. The project will study highly integrated drivetrains for such heavy vehicles, focussing on the power electronics. New power semiconductors based on silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) potentially offer great benefits in terms of efficiency and compactness. To fully reap these benefits also the other parts of the power electronics need to be properly adapted. The project will investigate current commutation, cooling concepts, and mechanical integration to achieve compactness, efficiency, reliability, and vibration resilience. FEA tools will be used for electromagnetic and thermal calculations.

The doctoral project will also investigate methods for the optimization of the life-cycle cost of EV drive trains. In this optimization problem, the constraints are not explicitly available which calls for new methodologies to be developed.

We are looking for a person with good knowledge in power electronics and its enabling technologies. Good networking skills are also very desirable here, since the student will interact with people from industry, as well as other researchers.

Supervision: The doctoral student will be supervised by: Docent Staffan Norrga and Professor Hans-Peter Nee

• The possibility to study in a dynamic and international research environment in collaboration with industries and prominent universities from all over the world.Read more
• A workplace with many employee benefits and monthly salary according to KTH’s Doctoral student salary agreement.
• A postgraduate education at an institution that is active and supportive in matters pertaining to working conditions, gender equality and diversity as well as study environment.
• Work and study in Stockholm, close to nature and the water.
• Help to relocate and be settled in Sweden and at KTH .
• Participation in a very inclusive and multidisciplinary group carrying out world-class research in power electronics.

To be admitted to postgraduate education (Chapter 7, 39 § Swedish Higher Education Ordinance), the applicant must have basic eligibility in accordance with either of the following:

• passed a second cycle degree (for example a master's degree),
• completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 second-cycle higher education credits, or
• acquired, in some other way within or outside the country, substantially equivalent knowledge

In addition to the above, there is also a mandatory requirement for English equivalent to English B/6, read more here

In order to succeed as a doctoral student at KTH you need to be goal oriented and persevering in your work. During the selection process, candidates will be assessed upon their ability to:

• independently pursue his or her work
• collaborate with others,
• have a professional approach and
• analyse and work with complex issues.
• have knowledge of enabling technologies for power electronics, for instance: electromagnetics, semiconductor technology, and materials science,
• use 3D solid modelling tools, and
• do experimental work in power electronics, for instance, building and testing power converters.

After the qualification requirements, great emphasis will be placed on personal competency. 

Target degree: Doctoral degree

Only those admitted to postgraduate education may be employed as a doctoral student. The total length of employment may not be longer than what corresponds to full-time doctoral education in four years ' time. An employed doctoral student can, to a limited extent (maximum 20%), perform certain tasks within their role, e.g. training and administration. A new position as a doctoral student is for a maximum of one year, and then the employment may be renewed for a maximum of two years at a time.

You will find contact information for union representatives on KTH's website .

You will find contact information for doctoral section on the section's website .

Apply for the position and admission through KTH's recruitment system. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the application is complete in accordance with the instructions in the advertisement.

Applications must be received at the last closing date at midnight, CET/CEST (Central European Time/entral European Summer Time).

Applications must include the following elements:

• CV including your relevant professional experience and knowledge.
• Application letter with a brief description of why you want to pursue research studies, about what your academic interests are and how they relate to your previous studies and future goals. (Maximum 2 pages long)
• Copies of diplomas and grades from previous university studies and certificates of fulfilled language requirements (see above) . Translations into English or Swedish if the original document is not issued in one of these languages.Copies of originals must be certified .
• Representative publications or technical reports. For longer documents, please provide a summary (abstract) and a web link to the full text.

Striving towards gender equality, diversity and equal conditions is both a question of quality for KTH and a given part of our values.

For information about processing of personal data in the recruitment process please read here.

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Disclaimer: In case of discrepancy between the Swedish original and the English translation of the job announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.