PhD Studentship in System Services in 100 % Renewable Grids

Position Summary: Applications are invited for a PhD studentship, to be undertaken as part of the project “System Services in 100% Renewable Grids” at Imperial College London (Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) Department). The position is funded by the Leverhulme Professorship, held by Professor Mark O'Malley. 

Summary of Project:

The project aims to propose and study services needed in electricity grids with very large penetrations of variable renewable resources. The efficacy of the services will be assessed across multiple objectives for the electric grid including but not limited to reliability, cost-effectiveness, affordability, and resiliency. As part of the project, emerging resources enabled by the digitalization and hybridization of energy systems will be modelled and their contribution to existing and proposed services will be studied to identify any potential revisions to resource participation models. Emerging resources range from Inverter Based Resources (e.g. Wind, Solar Photovoltaic and Batteries) to large scale seasonal demand management and storage.

The project team currently includes Professor Mark O'Malley (Leverhulme Professor), Professor Janusz Bialek (a part-time Principal Research Fellow), Dr Elina Spyrou (Leverhulme Lecturer), two post-doctoral Research Associates, four pre-doctoral Research Assistants, and one PhD student. The team is aligned to the Global Power System Transformation (G-PST) initiative and its Research Agenda and will expand substantially over the coming year as part of the recently announced Global Centres in Electric Power Innovation for a Carbon-free Society (EPICS).

Funding:

The PhD studentship includes a stipend of approximately £21,237 per year (tax-free) for three and a half years, tuition fees and support of research expenses and travel to collaborators and conferences. The opportunity is open to Home or Overseas applicants.

The PhD studentship is expected to start in ASAP.

Duties and responsibilities

The responsibilities include defining the research questions and plan, reviewing literature and conducting independent research, reporting progress and disseminating results in high-impact referred journals, conferences and other gatherings. The successful candidate will be based at Imperial, but they will also participate in activities of the Global Power System Transformation consortium and perform research visits to consortium collaborators.  

Essential Requirements:

Applicants should have a good first degree or a Masters degree (or other equivalent experience). Suitable backgrounds for these PhD positions include but are not limited to power engineering, mathematics, computing and energy economics. The successful candidate will have excellent understanding in the fields of power system operations and economics. Experience in data sciences and optimization will be helpful but not necessary to apply for the position.

Further Information and application:

For informal enquiries, please contact Prof Mark O’ Malley (m.omalley@imperial.ac.uk).

Please click the Apply button to apply. Course code: Electrical Engineering Research – H6ZX. The application should also include a cover letter and your CV.

NB: In the application, the proposed research supervisor should be Prof Mark O’ Malley m.omalley@imperial.ac.uk to indicate that the application is for this post.

Full guidance on application process is available here. Any further queries regarding the application process should be directed to EEE PG Office eee.pgadmissions@imperial.ac.uk

Closing Date: 30 June 2024

About Imperial College London

Imperial College London is the UK’s only university focussed entirely on science, engineering, medicine and business and we are consistently rated in the top 10 universities in the world.

Additional information on the PhD programme in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering can be found here.

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