PhD: Urban-Scale Flexibility and Climate Impact Assessment on Urban Energy Demand (V25.0226)

As urban populations grow and energy demands rise, urban-scale energy system modelling is critical for reducing emissions, enhancing resilience, and integrating high shares of renewable energy sources. Such modelling provides essential tools for designing low-carbon, efficient, and adaptive energy infrastructures at local level. By leveraging data-driven methods, cities can devise strategies that balance energy supply and demand, improve electricity grid flexibility, and optimize renewable energy integration. These solutions contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing emissions and to adaptation by strengthening energy system resilience against growing climate-related risks.

Modeling energy systems presents numerous challenges, which become increasingly intricate when applied at urban or local scales due to spatial, temporal, and sectoral heterogeneities. Moreover, the availability and quality of energy-related models and datasets at these levels are often limited, further complicating accurate analysis and decision-making. For municipalities and provinces, a key challenge is to develop local energy roadmaps that align with regional and national scenarios while addressing specific research questions at the urban level. This includes analyzing the impact of climate change on urban energy demand, evaluating the distribution grid's capability to accommodate growing electricity demand, assessing the effects of local policies such as building refurbishment strategies, and examining the role of hydrogen in facilitating sustainable energy transitions in cities.

Join our dynamic institute to tackle climate change by advancing innovative, low-emission energy solutions. We seek a motivated PhD candidate to enhance open-source energy system models and develop local energy roadmaps. Key research tasks will include:

• Advancing modeling tools for improved representation of electricity generation potential and energy demand, with a focus on the electricity and heat sectors.
• Utilizing a linear optimization framework to evaluate local flexibility options across various scenarios, with an emphasis on the effects of electrification on the distribution grid and the influence of climate change on electricity generation and demand.
• Exploring various flexibility measures, with a strong focus on the integration of green hydrogen at the urban scale, particularly for residential heating applications, while addressing the gap between expectations and real-world implementation challenges.

This position offers the opportunity to contribute to timely and cutting-edge research at the intersection of urban energy modelling and planning, grid integration, and climate resilience within the broader energy transition. The successful candidate will primarily use PyPSA as the main modeling framework for this project.

Organisation
Founded in 1614, the University of Groningen enjoys an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative institution of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Flexible study programmes and academic career opportunities in a wide variety of disciplines encourage the 34,000 students and researchers alike to develop their own individual talents. As one of the best research universities in Europe, the University of Groningen has joined forces with other top universities and networks worldwide to become a truly global centre of knowledge.

Within the Faculty of Science and Engineering, a 4-years PhD position is available at the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE) which is the largest faculty within the University. We offer first-rate education and research in a wide range of science and engineering disciplines, from classical disciplines such as mathematics, astronomy and mechanical engineering, to interdisciplinary fields such as artificial intelligence, pharmacy and nanoscience. Our community has an open and informal character with students and staff from around the world.

The position we offer will be based at the research unit Integrated Research on Energy, Environment and Society (IREES) which is embedded in the Energy and Sustainability Research Institute Groningen (ESRIG). ESRIG plays a key role in addressing complex scientific and technological challenges. The institute specializes in developing integrated approaches—often in collaboration with stakeholders and the broader public—that maximize co-benefits, anticipate spillover effects, and minimize trade-offs. Traditional energy system modeling and scenario analysis remain essential for identifying and evaluating energy transition pathways. At ESRIG, we are at the forefront of enhancing these models with cutting-edge methodologies, ensuring they effectively support the ongoing energy transition.

The successful candidate should have:

• A master’s degree (or expect to complete it before the appointment date) in physics, engineering, informatics, or a related field.
• Proven experience in energy system modeling, preferably with PyPSA or a similar framework.
• A strong understanding of energy system modeling and optimization.
• Knowledge of linear optimization techniques for analyzing energy systems.
• Proficiency in programming, ideally in Python or similar languages, with a focus on open-source modeling and handling large datasets.
• Familiarity with urban energy planning, climate resilience strategies, and the role of hydrogen in energy transitions (considered an advantage).
• The ability to work collaboratively within an interdisciplinary research environment.
• Strong communication skills and motivation to disseminate research findings to both scientific peers and a wider audience.
• Proficiency in English (oral and written).

We offer you, following the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

• a salary of € 2,901 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3,707 gross per month in the fourth and final year for a full-time working week.
• a holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income and an 8.3% year-end bonus.
• a full-time position (1.0 FTE). The successful candidate will first be offered a temporary position of one year with the option of renewal for another three years.
• Prolongation of the contract is contingent on sufficient progress in the first year to indicate that a successful completion of the PhD thesis within the next three years is to be expected.
• A PhD training programme is part of the agreement and the successful candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School of Science and Engineering.

Application should include:

• letter of motivation.
• CV (including contact information for at least two academic references).
• transcripts from your bachelor’s and master’s degree.
• Git code/repository of a coding project if available.

You may apply for this position until 15 May 11:59pm / before 16 May 2025 Dutch local time (CEST) by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website).

Applications received before 1 May 2025 will be given full consideration; however, the position will remain open until it is filled. The starting date is September 1, 2025 or later.

The University of Groningen strives to be a university in which students and staff are respected and feel at home, regardless of differences in background, experiences, perspectives, and identities. We believe that working on our core values of inclusion and equality are a joint responsibility and we are constructively working on creating a socially safe environment. Diversity among students and staff members enriches academic debate and contributes to the quality of our teaching and research. We therefore invite applicants from underrepresented groups in particular to apply. For more information, see also our diversity policy webpage: https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/policy-and-strategy/diversity-and-inclusion/

Our selection procedure follows the guidelines of the Recruitment code (NVP): https://www.nvp-hrnetwerk.nl/nl/sollicitatiecode and European Commission's European Code of Conduct for recruitment of researchers: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/code

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