PhD Position Optimzation of Interdependent Telecom and Urban infrastructures

Job description

The functioning of cities depends more than ever on urban infrastructures like transportation networks, power grids, water networks, Internet of Things sensors, and analytics platforms that gather data from those infrastructures, as well as telecommunications networks. To fully support the operation of cities, telecommunications networks also need to evolve, offering, e.g., ubiquitous connectivity and decentralised data-center capabilities to optimize urban performance. This project aims to explore how telecommunications networks and urban infrastructures interdepend and co-evolve, and to identify network designs that can further enhance global telecommunications and urban performance.

This exciting PhD project presents several scientific challenges, including developing advanced models for interdependent or co-evolving telecom and urban infrastructures driven by real-world data, surpassing state-of-the-art synthetic models; collecting and integrating diverse datasets, including entity matching; and combining expertise from, e.g., network data science and telecommunications to address the above modeling and design questions.

You will be part of a leading team in network data science within the Multimedia Computing Group (MMC) in Computer Science. We share a drive to understand and optimize complex systems ranging from social, technical, to economic systems. The supervision team consists of Dr. Huijuan Wang from MMC and Dr. Eric Smeitink from KPN and the Network Architectures and Services Group.

The PhD position is part of NExTWORKx, the strategic partnership between the telecom and ICT service provider KPN and Delft University of Technology. Curious to learn more about the project? Feel free to visit our website, where you’ll also find other exciting PhD opportunities related to this collaboration.

In your role, you will collaborate with partners and external collaborators from, e.g., NExTWORKx and other projects on critical infrastructures. Fostering an inspiring, friendly, and supportive environment, we meet regularly, share ideas and knowledge, and you will receive the support you need to evolve as a scientist.

Job requirements
In order to be successful, you bring:

• MSC in Computer Science, Physics, Engineering, mathematics or related disciplines with a strong background in data analysis, mathematical modeling and algorithms
• Good programming skills in Python/C/C++
• Good oral and written skills in English
• Enjoys working in an international and inter-disciplinary research group

To thrive as a PhD candidate, it’s crucial to have a strong research mindset driven by curiosity and passion for your topic. Reflecting on your motivation for pursuing a PhD trajectory is essential, as this path involves unique challenges and uncertainties inherent to scientific exploration. Success requires dedication, adaptability, the ability to analyze complex problems, manage your time effectively, innovate and stay resilient under pressure. Combined with the ability and willingness to work independently and collaborate well, these qualities are indispensable for a fulfilling PhD journey. These experiences will build you as an independent researcher, expand your professional network, and pave the way for diverse career pave the way for diverse career paths, inside or outside academia.

TU Delft (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!

Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) brings together three scientific disciplines. Combined, they reinforce each other and are the driving force behind the technology we all use in our daily lives. Technology such as the electricity grid, which our faculty is helping to make completely sustainable and future-proof. At the same time, we are developing the chips and sensors of the future, whilst also setting the foundations for the software technologies to run on this new generation of equipment – which of course includes AI. Meanwhile we are pushing the limits of applied mathematics, for example mapping out disease processes using single cell data, and using mathematics to simulate gigantic ash plumes after a volcanic eruption. In other words: there is plenty of room at the faculty for ground-breaking research. We educate innovative engineers and have excellent labs and facilities that underline our strong international position. In total, more than 1000 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.

PhD Position Optimzation of Interdependent Telecom and Urban infrastructures

Job description

The functioning of cities depends more than ever on urban infrastructures like transportation networks, power grids, water networks, Internet of Things sensors, and analytics platforms that gather data from those infrastructures, as well as telecommunications networks. To fully support the operation of cities, telecommunications networks also need to evolve, offering, e.g., ubiquitous connectivity and decentralised data-center capabilities to optimize urban performance. This project aims to explore how telecommunications networks and urban infrastructures interdepend and co-evolve, and to identify network designs that can further enhance global telecommunications and urban performance.

This exciting PhD project presents several scientific challenges, including developing advanced models for interdependent or co-evolving telecom and urban infrastructures driven by real-world data, surpassing state-of-the-art synthetic models; collecting and integrating diverse datasets, including entity matching; and combining expertise from, e.g., network data science and telecommunications to address the above modeling and design questions.

You will be part of a leading team in network data science within the Multimedia Computing Group (MMC) in Computer Science. We share a drive to understand and optimize complex systems ranging from social, technical, to economic systems. The supervision team consists of Dr. Huijuan Wang from MMC and Dr. Eric Smeitink from KPN and the Network Architectures and Services Group.

The PhD position is part of NExTWORKx, the strategic partnership between the telecom and ICT service provider KPN and Delft University of Technology. Curious to learn more about the project? Feel free to visit our website, where you’ll also find other exciting PhD opportunities related to this collaboration.

In your role, you will collaborate with partners and external collaborators from, e.g., NExTWORKx and other projects on critical infrastructures. Fostering an inspiring, friendly, and supportive environment, we meet regularly, share ideas and knowledge, and you will receive the support you need to evolve as a scientist.

Job requirements
In order to be successful, you bring:

• MSC in Computer Science, Physics, Engineering, mathematics or related disciplines with a strong background in data analysis, mathematical modeling and algorithms
• Good programming skills in Python/C/C++
• Good oral and written skills in English
• Enjoys working in an international and inter-disciplinary research group

To thrive as a PhD candidate, it’s crucial to have a strong research mindset driven by curiosity and passion for your topic. Reflecting on your motivation for pursuing a PhD trajectory is essential, as this path involves unique challenges and uncertainties inherent to scientific exploration. Success requires dedication, adaptability, the ability to analyze complex problems, manage your time effectively, innovate and stay resilient under pressure. Combined with the ability and willingness to work independently and collaborate well, these qualities are indispensable for a fulfilling PhD journey. These experiences will build you as an independent researcher, expand your professional network, and pave the way for diverse career pave the way for diverse career paths, inside or outside academia.

TU Delft (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!

Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) brings together three scientific disciplines. Combined, they reinforce each other and are the driving force behind the technology we all use in our daily lives. Technology such as the electricity grid, which our faculty is helping to make completely sustainable and future-proof. At the same time, we are developing the chips and sensors of the future, whilst also setting the foundations for the software technologies to run on this new generation of equipment – which of course includes AI. Meanwhile we are pushing the limits of applied mathematics, for example mapping out disease processes using single cell data, and using mathematics to simulate gigantic ash plumes after a volcanic eruption. In other words: there is plenty of room at the faculty for ground-breaking research. We educate innovative engineers and have excellent labs and facilities that underline our strong international position. In total, more than 1000 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.

PhD Position on Multi-Carrier Energy Hubs for Horticulture with Positive Grid Impact

Job description
The energy transition requires the deployment of large amounts of renewable power capacity and the electrification of many energy end uses. However, this increases the fluctuations of demand and generation the system must deal with, and exacerbates grid congestion. Multi-Carrier Energy Hubs (MC-EHs), where multiple energy generation, conversion, and storage technologies across diverse carriers integrate smartly and locally, show promise for overcoming such barriers. They enable circumventing grid congestion while offering flexibility to the large-scale system.

In the Netherlands, the sector with the highest potential for deploying innovative MC-EHs is that of greenhouse horticulture. Via its combined heat-and-power (CHP) plants used for electricity, heat and CO2 demands, it provides 11% of the yearly national electricity supply and 10% of the dispatchable power capacity that balances the increasing variability of demand and renewables on the grid. However, the energy transition requires horticulture to shift from fossil CHPs to sources like geothermal and solar. If this occurs, the sector would turn from a flexible net electricity producer into an inflexible net electricity consumer. The grid would lose flexible CHPs and need new, ad-hoc dispatchable capacity investments, as already occurring in some areas. Instead, horticulture has the potential to solve and accelerate the Dutch energy transition by shifting to innovative MC-EHs designed from the start to benefit not only local greenhouse needs but also to act as system buffers that support large-scale renewable integration and mitigate grid congestion. We call this a 'system-positive' MC-EH.

In this PhD trajectory, we focus on developing the methods and tools required to support decision-making during this transition towards ‘system-positive’ MC-EH, with application to greenhouse horticulture. We want to address this challenge in various stages. First, by supporting the design of a first-of-its-kind system-positive MC-EH for a real-life pilot in collaboration with real-world industrial partners and stakeholders. Second, by generalising the methods so they can be applied to any horticulture system in the Netherlands and enabling the scale-up of the concept to the whole system.

To achieve the above goals, you will develop cutting-edge energy system design methods, building on tools and methods that our team excels at, such as open-source energy system modelling frameworks and Modelling to Generate Alternatives (MGA), and combining them with techniques from AI and other fields to ease computation and ensure robust assessments.

This PhD position is funded under the SPROUT project, funded by RVO. You will work closely with other researchers at TU Delft (such as Koty McAllister, from Mechanical Engineering), Wageningen University & Research, and Leiden University, as well as our industrial partners: Division Q, eFuelution, Resourcefully and Westland Infra.

You will work more closely with Francesco Lombardi and will be embedded in the Energy & Industry section, where you will build on existing expertise and models on energy system optimisation and MGA. You will join a lively community of internationally renowned interdisciplinary energy researchers in the Department of Engineering Systems and Services at TU Delft. Our faculty hosts a diverse group of people from different countries and disciplines, and we welcome candidates who contribute to and enjoy this diversity.     

Job requirements
You must be able to demonstrate:

• Masters degree in engineering (e.g., CoSEM, SET if you attended TU Delft), physics or other related discipline (must have been awarded by the agreed-upon starting date of the PhD).
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills.
• Very good written and spoken communication skills in English.

Bonus points if you have:

• Programming experience Python or a similar language.
• Knowledge of open-source energy system modelling frameworks, such as Calliope, PyPSA, Tulipa or similar
• Taken courses in Optimisation, Energy System Modelling or similar.
• Prior research experience, especially in energy system modelling or other energy-related research.
• Knowledge of Dutch language.     

TU Delft (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

Faculty Technology, Policy & Management
The Faculty of TPM provides an important contribution to solving complex technical-social issues, such as energy transition, mobility, digitalisation, water management and (cyber) security. TPM does this with its excellent education and research at the intersection of technology, society and policy. We combine insights from both engineering and social sciences as well as the humanities. TPM develops robust models and designs, is internationally oriented and has an extensive network of knowledge institutions, companies, social organisations and governments.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management.

PhD Position on Responding to Values and Value Tensions in Transitions in the Built Environment

Job description

This PhD position is part of the NWO-funded AMBITIONS project, a transdisciplinary consortium in the built environment. Together, we explore how value-driven tools can help practitioners and policymakers navigate value tensions that arise at the intersection of multiple transitions. One of the aims of the project is to develop a systemic view of values and maps the values and value relationships (conflicts and complementarities) within and between public values articulated in the transitions relevant to the built environment with an emphasis on the energy transition, the transition to a circular economy and the preventive public health transition.

As part of you research, you will carry out the following research activities:

• Develop a conceptual framework that helps to explicate how policymakers can respond to values and values relationships found at the regional and local level with respect to transitions in the built environment;
• Empirically apply this framework and carry out interviews with key stakeholders in and outside the consortium;
• Do a comparative analysis of policy responses to public values and value conflicts in various transitions in the built environment to identify best practices. The results will be laid down in a policy brief for policymakers.

Your research will be part of Work Package 1 of the AMBTIONS projects. This WP focuses on the national, policy-making level of transitions whereas other WPs focus more on the regional and local level. WP 1 aims to understand 1) how values are systematically connected to each other, and 2) how policy makers can identify and respond to public values and value relationships. The focus of your research will be on the second objective. The first objective will be investigated by a postdoc at the Utrecht University (UU). We aim for a close collaboration between TU Delft and UU in WP 1. A description of the AMBITIONS project is available on request.

You will join the section Ethics and Philosophy of Technology at the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, You will collaborate with researchers at the TU Delft Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Utrecht University, University of Twente, and Avans Hogeschool. Together, you will be part of an active network of leading researchers in Design for Values, the Built Environment, and Transition Studies.

Job requirements

• You have, or are about to receive, a Master's Degree in (applied) philosophy, Science and Technology Studies (STS), policy sciences, transition studies or another relevant discipline.
• You have demonstrated affinity with, and expertise in philosophy (in case you do not have a degree in philosophy).
• You have affinity with technology and values
• You have good analytical and concpetual skills, and preferably some experience with empirical research
• You are proficient in English.
• You are able to do independent research and have good writing and publication skills.
• You are willing to collaborate also with the non-scientific partners in the consortium and to contribute to societal impact.

You will be supervised by Prof. dr. ir. Ibo van de Poel (Technical University Delft) and dr.ir. Udo Pesch (Technical University Delft)
Your work location is Delft. We expect that you will move to the Netherlands, to the region where the university is located or to a region from which a daily commute is feasible

TU Delft (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

Faculty Technology, Policy & Management
The Faculty of TPM provides an important contribution to solving complex technical-social issues, such as energy transition, mobility, digitalisation, water management and (cyber) security. TPM does this with its excellent education and research at the intersection of technology, society and policy. We combine insights from both engineering and social sciences as well as the humanities. TPM develops robust models and designs, is internationally oriented and has an extensive network of knowledge institutions, companies, social organisations and governments.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management.

PhD Position on Multi-Carrier Energy Hubs for Horticulture with Positive Grid Impact

Job description
The energy transition requires the deployment of large amounts of renewable power capacity and the electrification of many energy end uses. However, this increases the fluctuations of demand and generation the system must deal with, and exacerbates grid congestion. Multi-Carrier Energy Hubs (MC-EHs), where multiple energy generation, conversion, and storage technologies across diverse carriers integrate smartly and locally, show promise for overcoming such barriers. They enable circumventing grid congestion while offering flexibility to the large-scale system.

In the Netherlands, the sector with the highest potential for deploying innovative MC-EHs is that of greenhouse horticulture. Via its combined heat-and-power (CHP) plants used for electricity, heat and CO2 demands, it provides 11% of the yearly national electricity supply and 10% of the dispatchable power capacity that balances the increasing variability of demand and renewables on the grid. However, the energy transition requires horticulture to shift from fossil CHPs to sources like geothermal and solar. If this occurs, the sector would turn from a flexible net electricity producer into an inflexible net electricity consumer. The grid would lose flexible CHPs and need new, ad-hoc dispatchable capacity investments, as already occurring in some areas. Instead, horticulture has the potential to solve and accelerate the Dutch energy transition by shifting to innovative MC-EHs designed from the start to benefit not only local greenhouse needs but also to act as system buffers that support large-scale renewable integration and mitigate grid congestion. We call this a 'system-positive' MC-EH.

In this PhD trajectory, we focus on developing the methods and tools required to support decision-making during this transition towards ‘system-positive’ MC-EH, with application to greenhouse horticulture. We want to address this challenge in various stages. First, by supporting the design of a first-of-its-kind system-positive MC-EH for a real-life pilot in collaboration with real-world industrial partners and stakeholders. Second, by generalising the methods so they can be applied to any horticulture system in the Netherlands and enabling the scale-up of the concept to the whole system.

To achieve the above goals, you will develop cutting-edge energy system design methods, building on tools and methods that our team excels at, such as open-source energy system modelling frameworks and Modelling to Generate Alternatives (MGA), and combining them with techniques from AI and other fields to ease computation and ensure robust assessments.

This PhD position is funded under the SPROUT project, funded by RVO. You will work closely with other researchers at TU Delft (such as Koty McAllister, from Mechanical Engineering), Wageningen University & Research, and Leiden University, as well as our industrial partners: Division Q, eFuelution, Resourcefully and Westland Infra.

You will work more closely with Francesco Lombardi and will be embedded in the Energy & Industry section, where you will build on existing expertise and models on energy system optimisation and MGA. You will join a lively community of internationally renowned interdisciplinary energy researchers in the Department of Engineering Systems and Services at TU Delft. Our faculty hosts a diverse group of people from different countries and disciplines, and we welcome candidates who contribute to and enjoy this diversity.     

Job requirements
You must be able to demonstrate:

• Masters degree in engineering (e.g., CoSEM, SET if you attended TU Delft), physics or other related discipline (must have been awarded by the agreed-upon starting date of the PhD).
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills.
• Very good written and spoken communication skills in English.

Bonus points if you have:

• Programming experience Python or a similar language.
• Knowledge of open-source energy system modelling frameworks, such as Calliope, PyPSA, Tulipa or similar
• Taken courses in Optimisation, Energy System Modelling or similar.
• Prior research experience, especially in energy system modelling or other energy-related research.
• Knowledge of Dutch language.     

TU Delft (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

Faculty Technology, Policy & Management
The Faculty of TPM provides an important contribution to solving complex technical-social issues, such as energy transition, mobility, digitalisation, water management and (cyber) security. TPM does this with its excellent education and research at the intersection of technology, society and policy. We combine insights from both engineering and social sciences as well as the humanities. TPM develops robust models and designs, is internationally oriented and has an extensive network of knowledge institutions, companies, social organisations and governments.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management.