As part of your 3-years Postdoc project, you will develop your own research vision within a new program by AIT and TU Delft. You will develop AI-based algorithms for energy system (operational-) planning while supporting the new program involving 6 PhD researchers. You will join TU Delft as scientific staff and collaborate with the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT). You will be based in Delft, the Netherlands and travel ca. two times a year to Vienna, Austria. You will benefit from the professional development programs of AIT and TU Delft at the same time.

Your project is to investigate data-centric synergies between the domain of energy markets, the control domain of power system assets, and the physical energy systems. These domains, typically operating isolated without much exchange of data, are sub-optimal, resulting in drastic stability challenges due to the complexity of the problem. For example, a model learned for congestion management may be shared with the market and control domains. There, the model is re-trained with data of a different type and model (modal-learning) to change the task of the original model to computing cost-based remunerations for redispatch actions or for the energy market designs. Therefore, you will seek a holistic approach to finding novel concepts and algorithms to combine these domains. The 6 PhD researchers in the program are working on detailed research projects within these domains. You support connectting those topics. Therefore, we search for a person striving in a technical, collaborative, interactive, and proactive environment.

• A PhD degree in Power Systems, Energy Markets, Energy Systems, or Computer Science, or Applied Machine Learning to any of the aforementioned.
• Highly technical and academic competences, experience with academic publishing and guiding students
• Skills to organise seminars, workshops, and advisory board meetings
• Must have demonstrated competencies in one or more of these categories: AI, computer/data science, machine learning, energy system modelling, power systems, and energy markets.
• An affinity with teaching and guiding PhD and MSc students
• A proven record and interest in further developing your modelling, programming, analytical and scientific writing skills
• An affinity with energy and power systems, with net-zero carbon targets, technical challenges
• The ability to work in a team, take the initiative, be results-oriented and systematic

Fixed-term contract: 3 years assignment, starting with a 1-year contract.

This position is a 3 years assignment, starting with a 1-year contract.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, a discount on health insurance and sport memberships, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

For international candidates with family, we offer the Coming to Delft Service and Partner Career Advice to assist you with your relocation. An International Children's Centre offers childcare and there is an international primary school.  

Delft University of Technology

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

The AIT is Austria's largest research and technology organisation, significantly impacting socially relevant future infrastructure topics. AIT is positioned as an international key player in the research and scientific community, leading in many infrastructure topics worldwide. At the AIT Center for Energy, over 250 experts are developing sustainable solutions for our future energy system under the leadership of Wolfgang Hribernik. The Center combines longstanding experience and scientific excellence with high-quality laboratory infrastructure and a global network to offer companies innovative applied research services, providing them with a competitive edge in this promising market. The thematic portfolio of the Center for Energy focuses on three key systems: sustainable energy supply systems, decarbonisation of industrial processes and facilities, and innovative technologies and solutions for cities and the built environment.

TU Delft is a top-tier university and is exceedingly active in the field of Artificial intelligence, and TU Delft's campus has strong expertise in energy systems. Energy systems are the backbone of our modern society but are becoming increasingly complex and challenging to operate as renewable energy, heating and transport sectors are integrated into the system. It's crucial that energy systems are sustainable, reliable and effective, now and in the future. Recognising the transformational power of AI, TU Delft has launched a large cross-faculty AI initiative where you will affiliate with the Delft AI Energy Lab, focusing on developing AI-based algorithms for operating sustainable and dynamical energy systems and the Intelligent Electrical Power Grid section.

AIT and TU Delft are launching the "AI research in energy system operations and planning" program forming a new expert team combining the strength of both institutions. In this program, we combine ground-breaking AI methods with the reliable theory of the physical energy system. The area of data-driven scientific computing promises to combine statistics, time-frequency analysis, low-dimensional model reductions, and other techniques to extract information from data. With AI, we make such information useful for managing and planning complex energy systems. At TU Delft, your academic supervisor will be Assistant Professor Dr. Jochen Cremer.

Faculty Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) brings together three disciplines - electrical engineering, mathematics and computer science. Combined, they reinforce each other and are the driving force behind the technology we use in our daily lives. Technology such as the electricity grid, which our faculty is helping to make future-proof. We are also working on a world in which humans and computers reinforce each other. We are mapping out disease processes using single cell data, and using mathematics to simulate gigantic ash plumes after a volcanic eruption. There is plenty of room here for ground-breaking research. We educate innovative engineers and have excellent labs and facilities that underline our strong international position. In total, more than 1,100 employees and 4,000 students work and study in this innovative environment.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science.