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PhD Fellowship within Modelling and Validation of Lithium ion Battery

About the position

We have a vacancy for a PhD research fellow with the battery research group of Professor Burheim and Strømman at the department of Energy and Process Engineering. The PhD position is part this groups broader effort on sustainable battery production spanning several projects financed by the Norwegian research council, Horizon 2020 and the Norwegian industry.  The group is well recognized for its contributions to the field as evidenced by several highly cited publications. There is also a long tradition of working on both industrial and policy applications as well as in international bodies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The candidate selected for this group will join a team of highly motivated staff working to produce knowledge to support the development of a sustainable battery industry in Norway, Scandinavia and across the World.

The PhD position focuses on battery production modelling with emphasis on bridging process unit models with factory system models to assess energy, material and costs for different LIB and LIC production technologies. The work will also involve campaigns on data collection at different plants for model validation, through collaboration with several LIB and LIC manufacturers in Norway and TU Braunschweig. This project will also receive advice from Sintef and IFE through the larger project that this position is a part of, NorGiBatF – Norwegian Giga Battery Factories.

You will report to Professor Anders Strømman as the main supervisor and Odne Burheim as co-supervisor at NTNU. Head of department is Professor Terese Løvås.

Duties of the position

  • Research tasks in alignment with the research proposal.
  • In particular battery production modelling and validation.
  • Support group wide activities, initiatives and strategies.
  • Contribute to good work environment. 
  • Co-supervision of master thesis students and bachelor thesis students related to the project
  • Teaching tasks (Optional - depends on qualifications and interests).

Required selection criteria

A PhD position is an education for the degree of philosophia doctor. You must therefore have completed your master degree or be close to finishing it and have a vision for why a PhD is the right next step in your career.

The PhD-position's main objective is to qualify for work in research positions. The qualification requirement is that you have completed a master’s degree or second degree (equivalent to 120 credits) with a strong academic background in  Material Science, Chemical and Process Engineering, Computer Science, Energy engineering, Physics or Mathematics or equivalent education with a grade of B or better in terms of NTNU’s grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic foundation. If you are unable to meet these criteria you may be considered only if you can document that you are particularly suitable for education leading to a PhD degree.

If, for any reason, you have taken a career break or have had an atypical career and wish to disclose this in your application, the selection committee will take this into account.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants and national guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and research assistant.

Main selection criteria are

  • General programming skills in one or several languages is required (e.g., Python, Matlab, R, C++).
  • General understanding of electrochemistry is required.
  • General understanding of fundamentals in thermodynamics and fluid mechanics is required.
  • General competence on modelling, simulation or optimization is required.
  • Specific competence on LiB or LIC production processes is desired  
  • Specific experience with process simulation and modelling, with preference towards material and energy flows is desired.
  • Specific experience with modeling of drying processes and transport phenomena is desired.
  • Specific experience with non-equilibrium thermodynamics is desired

Other selection criteria

  • Strong, well matured and well-articulated motivation for working on the topic at hand is required. The candidates must therefore in their application provide a 1-2 page letter where they describe: i) their motivation for doing a PhD in this domain and ii) how they see their competence and capabilities as relevant for the position.
  • The candidates are expected to be familiar with key relevant publications from the supervisors.
  • The candidates selected for interview will be asked to demonstrate good ability to absorb and present material from the research frontier on the matters at hand.
  • Strong analytical capabilities.
  • Excellent written and oral English language skills

Personal characteristics

  • The successful candidate will be working in a group with other professors and PhDs from different disciplines. The candidate is expected embrace this setting and be a true team player.
  • Self-driven and structured with a strong ability to work independently when required.
  • Motivated to work in a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural team, with an interest in cross-disciplinary learning.
  • In general, good soft skills, that is the ability to deal with people, and a to have a positive and flexible attitude.

We offer

Salary and conditions

PhD candidates are remunerated in code 1017, and are normally remunerated at gross from NOK 479 600 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

The period of employment is 3 years.

Appointment to a PhD position requires that you are admitted to the PhD programme in Engineering within three months of employment, and that you participate in an organized PhD programme during the employment period.

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU. After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

The position is subject to external funding.

It is a prerequisite you can be present at and accessible to the institution daily.

About the application

The application and supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the assessment must be in English.

Publications and other scientific work must follow the application. Please note that applications are only evaluated based on the information available on the application deadline. You should ensure that your application shows clearly how your skills and experience meet the criteria which are set out above. 

The application must include:

  • Targeted motivation letter explaining your experience and its relevance to the different selection criteria
  • CV, certificates and diplomas
  • Research plan or project proposal
  • Academic works - published or unpublished - that you would like to be considered in the assessment (up to 5 works)
  • Name and address of three referees

Joint works will be considered. If it is difficult to identify your contribution to joint works, you must attach a brief description of your participation.

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience and personal suitability.

NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment - DORA.

General information

Working at NTNU

A good work environment is characterized by diversity. We encourage qualified candidates to apply, regardless of their gender, functional capacity or cultural background. 

The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the innovation capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.

As an employee at NTNU, you must at all times adhere to the changes that the development in the subject entails and the organizational changes that are adopted.

Information Act (Offentleglova), your name, age, position and municipality may be made public even if you have requested not to have your name entered on the list of applicants.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Professor Odne Burheim , telephone 91707856, email burheim@ntnu.no. If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Ingrid Wiggen, e-mail: ingrid.wiggen@ntnu.no

Please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered. Diploma Supplement is required to attach for European Master Diplomas outside Norway. Chinese applicants are required to provide confirmation of Master Diploma from China Credentials Verification (CHSI).

If you are invited for interview you must include certified copies of transcripts and reference letters. Please refer to the application number IV-221/20 when applying.

Application deadline: 12.11.2020

NTNU - knowledge for a better world

The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) creates knowledge for a better world and solutions that can change everyday life.

Department of Energy and Process Engineering

We conduct research and teaching covering the entire energy chain, from resources to the end-user. We look at how energy is produced and used by humans and machines in a sustainable way with regard to health, climate change and the resource base. The Department of Energy and Process Engineering is one of eight departments in the Faculty of Engineering.

Deadline 12th November 2020
Employer NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Municipality Trondheim
Scope Fulltime
Duration Temporary
Place of service Department of Energy and Process Engineering

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