We are now seeking a candidate for a 3 year PhD program as part of the European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network on “Airborne Wind Energy TRAining for Industrialization Network” (AWETRAIN). Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) is a radical new technology based on tethered aircraft generating electricity from altitudes higher than conventional wind turbines. This allows these devices to be installed in different locations, generate at different times and provide cheaper electricity for Europe. This project will investigate the potential economic impact this technology could have on the European power and energy systems in the future.
Do you want to contribute to the green transition? Do you want to work in a collaborative, international, multi-disciplinary team? Do you have ambitions for a future career in academia or the renewable energy sector? If so, you will have the opportunity to join the systems engineering and optimization section, within the department of Wind and Energy Systems. Furthermore, you will be joining a team of 12 PhDs, along with their supervisors in the MSCA Doctoral Network AWETRAIN project. 3 of the positions will be located in Roskilde. More information on AWETRAIN is located here https://awetrain.eu/. Your main supervisor will be Senior Scientist Michael Kenneth McWilliam and you will join the PhD School at DTU Wind and Energy Systems.
Responsibilities and qualifications
In your PhD project, you will be responsible for investigating the future potential of AWE in the European electricity grid. Overall, the investigation will consider a variety of power and energy system scenarios, and a range of different possible future AWE concepts. The Balmorel open source energy system model (https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/portalfiles/portal/143614670/1_s2.0_S2211467X18300038_main.pdf) will be applied to determine how AWE will compete in these different scenarios, where and how much of these systems will be installed and the impact on the system cost and expected revenues for AWE technologies.
Core to the project is the development of an AWE system engineering tool that can be used to generate both power generation time series and cost and other information suitable for Balmorel. The tool should allow the project to investigate how different AWE innovations will impact the power generation, the capital costs and O&M costs. Furthermore, the model should use the latest data and models for European wind resources at altitudes relevant for AWE.
Additionally, the project will consider a range of power and energy system scenarios and applications. There are many ways that the future energy system can evolve. This includes different energy supply and demand scenarios along with new technologies like power-to-X and energy storage. Additionally, special characteristics of AWE open up new applications. This includes applications like ancillary services, relocation and other applications.
The overall goal is to try and understand the conditions and scenarios where AWE can feasibly contribute to the European energy system. The PhD project will involve collaborations with other partners, first to understand the technological potential, economic conditions and social context. At the same time, this project is meant to highlight different challenges and opportunities. You are expected to engage with stakeholders to help guide their work.
The research work will be carried out within the AWETRAIN project, where you will be collaborating within a larger team of 12 PhD students, their supervisors and their institutions. The project strongly encourages teamwork and collaboration, so we expect you to mutually support each other.
We foresee a secondment to Kitekraft in Munich Germany, subject to confirmation. The secondment will expose you to functioning of a start-up, provide commercial information for their project and provide an opportunity to understand the different business cases and technological scenarios. The secondment will provide an opportunity to validate the system engineering tool.
Besides this, your tasks may include teaching and supervising Masters students and participation in outreach and dissemination activities of the department commensurate with research at PhD level.
You must have a two-year master's degree (120 ECTS points) or a similar degree with an academic level equivalent to a two-year master's degree. We are seeking candidates with a Master's degree, with documented qualifications in systems engineering, economic analysis and energy systems modeling through dedicated courses and/or related work.
The following qualifications will be an advantage in the assessment:
- Strong background and interest in pursuing a research career in sustainable energy
- Quantitative skills and experience with data mining and handling big datasets
- Programming, modeling and numerical optimization skills Understanding of European electricity markets
- Excellent communication skills, both in writing and oral presentation
- Open-minded team player, able to work in multidisciplinary and multinational teams
- Additional soft-skills like attention to detail, creativity, organization, patience and perseverance
We still encourage candidates that do not fulfill all the criteria to apply, as we do not expect all qualifications to be fulfilled. Furthermore, if you feel that you have transferable that are similar, then we still encourage you to apply. Additionally, if you think you can bring additional qualifications that can be an asset to the team, we are happy to consider these qualifications as well.
The working language of the project is English and thus you must have suitable skills in both written and spoken English. Proficiency in a Scandinavian language is not required, but we expect an openness to learn Danish during your stay with us.
The PhD candidate will be selected through a competitive application process. Online applications will be screened against a set of criteria and a shortlist of candidates will be assessed by a specifically formed committee.
The supervision team for the PhD project consists of main supervisor Michael Kenneth McWilliam (https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/persons/michael-kenneth-mcwilliam), supported by Matti Juhani Koivisto (https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/persons/matti-juhani-koivisto) and Linda Kamp from TUDelft (https://www.tudelft.nl/en/staff/l.m.kamp/?cHash=489a29e3ff6b2aea9c1053389250e24d). The supervision team want to see you succeed, so you can expect regular meetings and additional support as needed from the supervision team. DTU wind energy also has a mentorship program, where the PhD student will be paired with a senior member of the staff, to provide additional support.
You will be working within the Systems Engineering and Optimization section. The team is focused on taking a system perspective to try to achieve the energy transition. The section is focused on applications of wind farm design, hybrid power plants, innovative impacts to wind energy systems, among other applications. Furthermore, the methods employed within the section include, system engineering, optimization methods, multi-disciplinary design optimization, uncertainty quantification, data science, machine learning and other methods. Within the section, you will be working within a diverse team of scientists at multiple levels of their career.
Approval and Enrolment
The scholarship for the PhD degree is subject to academic approval, and the candidate will be enrolled in one of the general degree programmes at DTU. For information about our enrolment requirements and the general planning of the PhD study programme, please see DTU's rules for the PhD education https://www.dtu.dk/english/Education/PhD/Rules.
Please note the mobility requirements for recruitment under the European MSCA program: in general, recruits must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting organization for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the recruitment date. You can find more information here https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/actions/doctoral-networks.
Assessment
The assessment of the applicants will be made by a committee consisting of Michael Kenneth McWilliam (Senior Researcher) (https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/persons/michael-kenneth-mcwilliam), Matti Juhani Koivisto (Senior Researcher) (https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/persons/matti-juhani-koivisto), Linda Kamp from TUDelft (https://www.tudelft.nl/en/staff/l.m.kamp/?cHash=489a29e3ff6b2aea9c1053389250e24d), Tuhfe Göçmen (Senior Researcher) (https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/persons/tuhfe-g%C3%B6%C3%A7men) and Head of Section Pierre-Elouan Mikael Réthoré (https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/persons/pierre-elouan-mikael-r%C3%A9thor%C3%A9).
We offer
DTU is a leading technical university globally recognized for the excellence of its research, education, innovation and scientific advice. We offer a rewarding and challenging job in an international environment. We strive for academic excellence in an environment characterized by collegial respect and academic freedom tempered by responsibility.
Salary and appointment terms
The appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. The allowance will be agreed upon with the relevant union. The period of employment is 3 years.
You can read more about career paths at DTU here http://www.dtu.dk/english/about/job-and-career/working-at-dtu/career-paths.
Further information
Further information, including the project description may be obtained from Senior Scientist Michael Kenneth McWilliam, DTU Wind and Energy Systems, +45 93 51 15 66, mimc@dtu.dk
You can read more about DTU Wind and Energy Systems at https://wind.dtu.dk/
If you are applying from abroad, you may find useful information on working in Denmark and at DTU at DTU – Moving to Denmark (https://www.dtu.dk/english/about/job-and-career/moving-to-denmark). Furthermore, you have the option of joining our monthly free seminar “PhD relocation to Denmark and startup “Zoom” seminar” (https://www.dtu.dk/english/about/job-and-career/moving-to-denmark/before-arrival/phd-relocation-to-denmark) for all questions regarding the practical matters of moving to Denmark and working as a PhD at DTU.
Application procedure
Your complete online application must be submitted no later than 18 March 2025 (23:59 Danish time).
Applications must be submitted as one PDF file containing all materials to be given consideration. To apply, please open the link "Apply now", fill out the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one PDF file. The file must include:
A letter motivating the application (cover letter) Curriculum vitae Grade transcripts and BSc/MSc diploma (in English) including official description of grading scale A short PhD project proposal (maximum 2 pages plus references) describing a possible research objective, theoretical framework and intended methodological approach. The interviews will be carried out within 2-3 weeks after the application deadline and employment are planned to start in mid 2025.
You may apply prior to obtaining your master's degree but cannot begin before having received it.
Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.
All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, disability, race, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply. As DTU works with research in critical technology, which is subject to special rules for security and export control, open-source background checks may be conducted on qualified candidates for the position.
About the AWETRAIN Training and Research Program
The AWETRAIN is an ambitious 12 PhD training network centered around enabling the industrial commercialization of Airborne Wind Energy. The network is coordinated by DTU with support of TUDelft, HM, POLIMI, Kitemill, Kite Power, Kitekraft and Airborne Wind Europe.
The training program is centered around preparing our Doctoral Candidates for career pushing world through the energy transition. To achieve our ambitious goals, we foresee rapid changes in our energy system, with radical new technology entering the space. As such, the program is built around developing the skills to work in multi-disciplinary teams, the awareness at multiple levels on how the sector is changing and giving you the agility to put yourself in the best position to affect this change.
The research program is divided into 3 work packages: WP3 Device and reliability, focusing on the reliability of individual plants. WP4 Plant and Scaling, investigating how industrial scale airborne wind energy plants will be constructed in the future. This project will be contained within WP5 Society and Economics, that is looking at the economic and social impact of AWE.
About DTU Wind Energy
DTU Wind and Energy Systems, which used to be a division of Risø National Laboratory (until 2012), has undertaken basic research, teaching and commercial activities in all aspects of wind energy since the mid-1970’s. DTU Wind and Energy Systems is now the world’s largest public research institute for wind energy and energy systems transition, with about 400 staff members. The department has four divisions: i) Materials and Components for Wind Energy, ii) Wind Turbine Technology, iii) Wind Energy Systems, and iv) Power and Energy Systems. The department is internationally recognized as being in the forefront of wind energy technology and smart energy systems research. We educate and train the next generation of engineers for a sustainable energy future. We collaborate with global leaders in industry and public authorities around the world to research and develop new technologies and services to power the green transition. In the research group Systems Engineering and Optimization, the team is focused on applying systems engineering to enable the energy transition. The energy transition is a complicated multi-disciplinary problem, where wind energy is a collection of systems within a larger system. This section enables the efficient transition to green energy, by trying to understand and improve these systems. The sections looks at wind farms, markets, novel innovations, among other applications. Furthermore, the section develops and employs advanced methods like multi-disciplinary design optimization, systems engineering, uncertainty quantification, machine learning and other methods. The section is composed of a diverse group of 22 staff members, consisting of 3 senior researchers, 3 researchers, 2 post-docs and 7 PhD students.
INFORMATIONER OM STILLINGEN:
- Arbejdspladsen ligger i:
Roskilde Kommune
-Virksomheden tilbyder:
-Arbejdsgiver:
DTU-RISØ, Frederiksborgvej, 4000 Roskilde
-Ansøgning:
Ansøgningsfrist: 18-03-2025;
Se mere her: https://job.jobnet.dk/CV/FindWork/Details/fb44f3f5-a544-4d6a-8c6d-2fe80ed47622
