Optimal energy control for vehicle-home-grid integration

Project description
Achieving the global targets on the environment and carbon neutrality relies heavily on fossil-free transport and renewable electric energy sources. However, integrating electric vehicle (EV) fleets and variable renewables into the power grid will cause large power fluctuations, frequency deviations, and potentially system failure. By utilising vehicle battery systems as energy buffers, vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-grid technology have huge potential to mitigate these impediments. In this project, we will leverage on advanced models, optimisation algorithms, control and communication strategies to address the above challenges fundamentally. The results will reduce the costs of household electricity and EV ownership costs, enhance the grid resilience for EV and renewable integration, and maximise the overall energy and resource efficiency.

This project is in partnership with Polestar Performance AB, a Swedish premium EV manufacturer, and is mainly funded by the Swedish Energy Agency as part of the Vehicle Strategic Research and Innovation programme. The position is a full-time temporary employment for four years of PhD studies extended up to five years to accommodate teaching performed at the department. You will be provided with a competitive monthly salary and full social benefits, and will have opportunities to work closely with experts at Polestar. The project is expected to start before August 2023.


Information about the division and the department
The position is with the Automatic Control group, comprising about 35 researchers at the division of Systems and Control, which has about 100 employees and is the largest division of the Department of electrical engineering. Aiming for a sustainable world, the group is involved in many research projects on energy savings using automatic control methods. In general, the projects are carried out in collaboration with other research groups, institutes and industry, and often in interdisciplinary constellations. The BMS (batterymanagement system) team, within Automatic Control, is the leading team on BMS research in Swedish academia, with a successful focus on modelling, estimation and control. For its battery research, the team has received the Volvo Car Technology Award and has published over 40 top tier journal papers and several patents. The working environment is international and characterized by openness.

https://www.chalmers.se/en/departments/e2/

Major responsibilities
Your major responsibility is to pursue research in line with the project, publish, and present scientific articles, and take part in discussions. As part of your PhD you will receive further education by courses relevant for your research, research project, automatic control in a wide sense, and your future career. You will also be expected to participate in teaching activities in the field of Automatic Control.

Qualifications
To qualify as a PhD student, you must have a master's level degree corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits preferably in automatic control, mechatronics, electric power engineering, computer science, or similar. Previous experience of battery energy storage and power systems is a merit.

 The position requires sound verbal and written communication skills in English. If Swedish is not your native language, Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

Contract terms
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years.

We offer
Chalmers offers a cultivating and inspiring working environment in the coastal city of Gothenburg. 
Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees.

Chalmers aims to actively improve our gender balance. We work broadly with equality projects, for example the GENIE Initiative on gender equality for excellence. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.

Application procedure
The application should be marked with Ref 20230150 and written in English. The application should be sent electronically and be attached as PDF-files, as below. Maximum size for each file is 40 MB. Please note that the system does not support Zip files.

CV: (Please name the document: CV, Family name, Ref. number)
• CV
• Other, for example previous employments or leadership qualifications and positions of trust.
• Two references that we can contact.

Personal letter: (Please name the document as: Personal letter, Family name, Ref. number)
1-3 pages where you:
• Introduce yourself
• Describe your previous experience of relevance for the position (e.g. education, thesis work and, if applicable, any other research activities)
• Describe your future goals and future research focus

Other documents:
• Copies of bachelor and/or master’s thesis.
• Attested copies and transcripts of completed education, grades and other certificates, e.g. TOEFL test results.

Please use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form. 

Application deadline: March 31, 2023



For questions, please contact:
Assoc. Prof. Changfu Zou, Automatic Control, Department of Electrical Engineering, changfu@chalmers.se, +46 (0)31 772 3392
Prof. Torsten Wik, Automatic Control, Department of Electrical Engineering, tw@chalmers.se, +46 (0)31 772 5146
Dr. Chih Feng Lee, Charging & Energy group, Polestar Performance AB, chih.feng.lee@polestar.com



*** Chalmers declines to consider all offers of further announcement publishing or other types of support for the recruiting process in connection with this position. *** 
   



Chalmers University of Technology conducts research and education in engineering sciences, architecture, technology-related mathematical sciences, natural and nautical sciences, working in close collaboration with industry and society. The strategy for scientific excellence focuses on our six Areas of Advance; Energy, Health Engineering, Information and Communication Technology, Materials Science, Production and Transport. The aim is to make an active contribution to a sustainable future using the basic sciences as a foundation and innovation and entrepreneurship as the central driving forces. Chalmers has around 11,000 students and 3,000 employees. New knowledge and improved technology have characterised Chalmers since its foundation in 1829, completely in accordance with the will of William Chalmers and his motto: Avancez!