PhD student position in Optimal usage and properties of second life

This PhD position gives a unique possibility to reach absolute specialist competence in battery research and combine this with automatic control, both fields with very strong job markets in the foreseeable future. You will be working in an internationally well-reputed group of about 15 researchers developing battery management algorithms improving battery performance and lifetime, and aiming for a more sustainable future.

Project description
Second life batteries are batteries that have ended usage in their first application but are in a sufficiently good condition to allow a second application. Soon there will be very large quantities of such batteries from electric vehicles. That and their short response-time make them highly interesting for power grid applications, where they can be used for power peak shaving, frequency control, and to compensate for variations in renewable energy sources, all utterly important in the development towards a fossil free energy system. Optimal battery management of such systems, however, is still poorly studied and highly challenging because of the large variability in the properties of old cells, and a general lack of knowledge of the ageing of 2nd life batteries. Development of general self-adapting ageing models will therefore be an important topic of the research.

This project is part of a new National research centre, Swedish Electricity Storage and Balancing Centre, administrated by the department. To ensure appropriate relevance you will work with specialists in the involved partner companies, Volvo GTT, Volvo Energy and BatteryLoop Technologies.

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 (battery management 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.

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 control, electric power engineering, computer science, engineering physics or similar. Previous experience of battery management systems, data science 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
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.

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 20220609 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:
• Copy of 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: December 14, 2022



For questions, please contact:
Torsten Wik, torsten.wik@chalmers.se
Changfu Zou, changfu@chalmers.se

*** 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!