PhD student in Storage and flexibility for enhancement of grid cap.

At the department of Electrical Engineering research and education are performed in the areas of Communication and Antenna systems, Systems and Control, Computer vision, Signal processing and Biomedical engineering, and Electric Power Engineering. Our knowledge is of use everywhere where there is advanced technology with integrated electronics. We work with challenges for a sustainable future in society of today, for example in the growing demands concerning efficient systems for communications and electrification.

We offer a dynamic and international work environment with about 200 employees from more than 20 countries, and with extensive national and international research collaborations with academia, industry and society.

The department provides about 100 courses, of which most are included in the Master’s Programs ”Biomedical Engineering”, “Electric Power Engineering”, ”Systems, Control and Mechatronics” and ”Communication Engineering”.

Read more at www.chalmers.se/en/departments/e2Project description
The structure of the electric power system is currently developing rapidly, and new knowledge is needed to guide the society to yield solutions which are robust, resilient, and sustainable. As a PhD student at the department of Electrical Engineering, you will be part of this challenging and exciting development.

A decrease in CO2 emissions is necessary to reduce the global warming. One component in this reduction is to reduce the use of fossil-based fuels in electricity generation and shift production towards renewable energy sources such as wind-power and solar-power. The shift to such sources comes with an additional challenge in the inherent variability of such energy sources as the level of possible production changes with meteorological factors beyond our control. A fundamental property for an electrical power system in a stationary operation is that the produced electric power must equal the electric power consumed in the loads. Uncontrollable variations in either load or production must hence be balanced by changes in other parts of the system. This project aims to study how this balancing can be accomplished from two perspectives. In the first perspective, we study how energy storage systems can be placed and dimensioned to obtain optimal reduction in variability. In the second, we study how the energy market mechanisms influence the loads to participate in balancing the variability of the renewable sources. The project is conducted within the competence centre "Swedish Electricity Storage and Balancing Centre" (SESBC) funded by Swedish Energy Agency and Swedish industry.
The PhD position is placed in the Signal Processing Group. The research project will be performed in collaboration with researchers from the division of Electrical Power Engineering and Communications Systems group, which are all parts of the department of Electrical Engineering.

Information about the division and the department
The Signal Processing Group conducts research on a broad range of topics related to the physics-based processing of sensor signals, the fusion of data from multiple sources, system identification as well as the automatic learning from big data. The research focuses on both the fundamentals of physics modelling of signals and the fundamentals of signal processing, as well as the applications of the methods to relevant problems. Several research topics are undertaken in collaboration with the industry and government organisations.

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 activities, you will receive further education by courses relevant for your research, research project, signal processing in a wide sense and your future career. You will also be expected to participate in teaching activities in relevant subjects.

Qualifications
You should have a background in Engineering Mathematics, Engineering Physics or Electrical Engineering with good grades in the core courses within these subjects. Knowledge of electric power systems, optimization and signal processing is meritorious. You should have obtained, or be close to obtain, a master's degree corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits in engineering physics, electrical engineering, mathematics or related areas.

The ideal candidate for this position should be hungry for new knowledge, interested in performing theoretical - but highly relevant - research, and be interested to be a part of a diverse international environment. Proficiency in written and spoken English is required.

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

Application procedure
The application should be marked with Ref 20230202 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: 12 May, 2023



For questions, please contact:
Prof. Thomas Rylander, division of Signal processing and Biomedical engineering, rylander@chalmers.se
+46 31-7721735

Prof. Tomas McKelvey, division of Signal processing and Biomedical engineering, tomas.mckelvey@chalmers.se
+46 31-7728061