PhD Studentship: Climate change adaptation in power grids and interdependent infrastructure systems

Funding for (UK/EU/o’seas): Home/EU/Overseas

Funding amount: Minimum £17,668 subject to eligibility status and confirmation of award

Hours: Full time

Contract: temporary

Closing date: 31 January 2023

Project Title: Climate change adaptation in power grids and interdependent infrastructure systems

The project:

The proposed project is aimed at investigating and developing new methodologies for climate change adaptation in power systems considering interdependent transportation and urban infrastructure systems. Thus, it will take advantage of climate models for impact assessments of extreme weather events in a changing climate on critical infrastructure systems. Notably, the impacts of weather-related incidents in power networks on transportation/urban networks and vice versa will be considered, including effects on distribution network restoration logistics, electrified transportation, among others. As an outcome, this project will result in new couplings between climate models and distinct infrastructure systems to improve infrastructure resilience and promote climate change adaptation while facilitating transition to a net-zero energy future. Furthermore, the theoretical efforts will be complemented by simulations and experimental validation in realistic scenarios, in which the baseline and improved design scenarios will be evaluated comparatively.

This project supports and builds on the University’s disciplinary and interdisciplinary excellence in tackling global challenges relating to climate, energy, and infrastructure systems. It will be carried out in collaboration with the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, and School of Geographical Sciences. Supervisory support from across all three departments will ensure high quality of the PhD outputs and applicability to national resilience challenges. As an outcome, the successful candidate will be part of the Electrical Energy Management Group and also have the opportunity to interact and collaborate with existing networks of the supervisory team and an interdisciplinary research community.

How to apply:

Prior to application, please contact one of the team: Dr Laiz Souto; Dr Maria Pregnolato; Dr Jeffrey Neal or Prof Paul Bates

To apply for this studentship, submit a PhD application using our online application system [www.bristol.ac.uk/pg-howtoapply]

Please ensure that in the Funding section you tick “I would like to be considered for a funding award from the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department” and specify the title of the scholarship in the “other” box.

Candidate requirements: 

The candidate must hold/achieve a minimum of a master’s degree (or international equivalent) in Electrical Engineering or a related discipline and with knowledge of power systems. Applicants without a Masters qualification may be considered on an exceptional basis, provided they hold a first-class undergraduate degree.

Applicants should have excellent analytical skills and experience with programming languages such as Python and C/C++. 

A background understanding in one or more of the following: power system modelling, analysis and simulation; energy systems integration; optimization methods. would be desirable.

If English is not your first language, you need to meet this profile level:

Profile E

Further information about English language requirements and profile levels.

Funding:

The studentship will cover full tuition fees and a minimum stipend equivalent to the UKRI tax-free stipend of £17,668 per annum (22/23) for 4 years.

For eligibility and residence requirements please check the UKRI UK Research and Innovation website.

Contacts:  

For questions about eligibility and the application process please contact SCEEM Postgraduate Research Admissions 

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