About the position

We have a vacancy for an Early Stage Researcher (ESR) in Cyber-Physical Energy Systems within the project InnoCyPES – Innovative tools for Cyber Physical Energy Systems.  InnoCyPES is an EU project funded under H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), Innovative Training Networks (ITN). It targets at the bottlenecks of digital transformation of the current energy system, where the ESRs are expected to study and improve various facets of digitalized and interconnected energy systems.  The project unites a network of 7 academic and 4 industrial beneficiaries, together with 10 partner organizations. The ESR will work with 14 other ESRs to be hired across the InnoCyPES  network and will benefit from

• Extensive training in technical and transferrable skills.
• A competitive salary including mobility and family allowances.
• Interdisciplinary, International and Intersectoral secondment experience

For more information about InnoCyPES see the pre-announcement of 15 Early-Stage Researcher (ESR) positions for the European Training Network in the field of Cyber-Physical Energy Systems (dtu.dk)

The topic for this ESR position is Operation, maintenance and investment strategy for offshore energy hub. The integration of offshore wind power and O&G platforms offers environmental benefits. However, the intermittent wind power cannot provide scheduled and reliable power to the O&G platforms. An energy storage system (ESS) or other sources can be needed. The cooperation needs to count for the uncertainties in wind and O&G production processes. In this project, the ESR will integrate different sources and types of information into operations-oriented models, to devise novel control and health monitoring algorithms for the management of hybrid offshore energy hubs. The ESR will also develop the techno-economic study of system design that considers both capital and operational costs, along with the possibility for economic benefits from fuel savings and CO2 emission reductions. This is a multidisciplinary project covering various aspects of electrical, energy and petroleum engineering as well as digital and automation technologies.

The ESR will be employed at NTNU’s Department of Geoscience and Petroleum (IGP) (www.ntnu.edu/igp) and will be supervised by an multidisciplinary team of professors from this department, Department of Engineering Cybernetics (www.ntnu.edu/itk) and industrial specialists from Equinor (www.equinor.com). The plan is to have three secondments during the project: to Equinor (3 months), Imperial College of London (3 months) and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (4 months). The plan can be adjusted based on the corona situation.

You will report to Head of Department.

Duties of the position

For the current position, the scope of work / objectives are as follows:

• Collect, systematize, and organize data, models and knowledge of academic and industrial origin relevant to the project
• Develop operations-oriented model(s) of an offshore energy hub and a simulation environment (like a digital twin)
• Define and study relevant problems related to optimal design and operation of an offshore energy hub
• Develop methods and algorithms for these optimization problems and test them in the simulation environment
• Conduct techno-economic evaluation of the studied design and operational concepts considering both capital and operational costs, along with the possibility for economic benefits from fuel savings and CO2 emission reductions

Other requirements

• The candidate must engage in InnoCyPES activities as required
• The candidate must commit to follow and complete the courses selected for his/her PhD program

Required selection criteria

• You must have a professionally relevant background in one or several disciplines: energy, electrical, petroleum, engineering, information/automation science
• Your education must correspond to a five-year Norwegian degree programme, where 120 credits are obtained at master's level 
• You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and an average grade from the master's degree program, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared with NTNU's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic basis. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be assessed if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education. 
• You must meet the requirements for admission to the faculty's doctoral program (https://www.ntnu.edu/iv/doctoral-programme) 
• Early-stage researchers: Applicants must be early-stage researchers, which means at the date of start, be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and have not been awarded a doctoral degree.
• Mobility Rule: researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Norway (the country of the host institution) for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date. Compulsory national service, short stays such as holidays, and time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention1 are not taken into account. For international European interest organizations, international organizations, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) or an 'entity created under Union law', recruited researchers must not have spent more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the recruitment date at the same appointing organization.

Other required selection criteria

• Good written and oral English language skills (minimum C1 or equivalent)

The appointment is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants and Regulations concerning the degrees of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) and Philosodophiae Doctor (PhD) in artistic research national guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and research assistant  

Preferred selection criteria

• Proven interest in interdisciplinary and intersectoral research, with specific interest in the project research area
• Relevant industrial and / or research experiences
• Creativity and innovation

Personal characteristics

• High level of personal responsibility and initiative
• Ability to work independently as well as in a team in accordance with the project objectives
• Interest and ability to work in multidisciplinary environments/teams

We offer

• exciting and stimulating tasks in a strong international academic environment
• an open and inclusive work environment with dedicated colleagues
• favourable terms in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• employee benefits

Salary and conditions

PhD candidates are remunerated in code 1017, and are normally remunerated at gross from NOK 482 200 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 without required duties. Expected start date in the fall of 2021.

Appointment to a PhD position requires that you are admitted to the PhD programme in Engineering (https://www.ntnu.edu/iv/doctoral-programme) 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 Norwegian or 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: 

• CV, certificates and diplomas 
• transcripts and diplomas for bachelor's and master's degrees. If you have not completed the master's degree, you must submit a confirmation that the master's thesis has been submitted. 
• A copy of the master's thesis. If you recently have submitted your master's thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed master's degree must be presented before taking up the position. 
• A one-page research proposal outlining how you would approach the research challenge of the project
• Name and address of three referees 
• Academic works - published or unpublished - that you would like to be considered in the assessment (up to 5 works)  

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both bachelor's and master's education, in addition to other higher education. Description of the documentation required can be found here. If you already have a statement from NOKUT, please attach this as well.

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 and interpersonal qualities. Motivation, ambitions, and potential will also count in the assessment of the candidates. 

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.

In accordance with The Public 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 Alexey Pavlov, telephone (+47) 97415395, e-mail alexey.pavlov@ntnu.no. If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Ms. Anne-Lise Brekken, e-mail: anne.lise.brekken@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).

Please refer to the application number IV-157/21 when applying.

Application deadline: 30.06.2021

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 Geoscience and Petroleum

We conduct teaching and research related to management of Earth’s geological resources. Norway’s rich resources of wind, water, oil, gas and minerals have been and are essential to the country’s prosperity, and will continue to be in the future. The Department plays a key role in the development of technology and the education of graduates who enable value creation based on our natural resources. The Department of Geoscience and Petroleum is one of eight departments in the Faculty of Engineering.

Deadline 30th June 2021
Employer NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Municipality Trondheim
Scope Fulltime
Duration Temporary
Place of service Institutt for geovitenskap og petroleum