PRR Project

Summary

In this present context, power systems are in a process of unprecedented transformation: demand control, many small supply units, renewable energy, and new electrification. Grid infrastructure must meet this transformation: a new operation and new planning are needed to guarantee sustainable system development. The new response from the grid will be at the lower voltage levels: for operation and planning, the complexity will increase as the grid dimensionality explodes and uncertainty rises.Candidates will be challenged to address the problems of planning and operating the energy systems of the future as they are transformed to meet the objectives of sustained decarbonisation.Such challenges have been recognized as critical by both DEEC and INESC-ID and, therefore, candidates will be required to both:Help reformulating DEEC curricula to address the challenges of the transformation of the electricity sector as well as to support the teaching of fundamental and advanced courses created recently on smart grids and active networks management related subjects;Take the lead and be responsible for the ongoing (many) research initiatives in the Energy transition thematic line of INESC-ID, supervising graduate students and research staff involved in such initiatives.At DEEC/IST, the Energy scientific area is adapting the content of many of its fundamental and advanced courses to allow students to be exposed to the new challenges of transforming the electricity system, providing them with the basic tools to face these challenges realistically and with a solid scientific basis. Unfortunately, much of the effort has not been productive. Some of the newly created courses (on the fundamentals of smart grids), as well as classic courses that are fundamental to energy transition (such as power electronics), were not taught on 23/24 -- they were mothballed due to the current lack of teaching staff.The Energy scientific area is the most understaffed of DEEC’s areas, having suffered a drastic reduction (of about 50%) in the number of lecturers due to retirements over the last decade. It is therefore crucial to recruit new professors with an interest and skills in the cutting-edge issues of power systems sustainability challenges.The retirements that have taken place over the last decade also have an impact on INESC-ID´s Sustainable Electrical Systems Group, which relies on many of the professors from the Energy scientific area to lead the main research initiatives on Energy Transition issues. These issues are receiving increasing attention from the European Commission, and INESC-ID has been increasingly successful in attracting funds to support research in these fields. However, INESC-ID will not be able to keep up the pace of attracting funds unless it rapidly reinforces its research team with senior researchers in these fields.The Candidate must be PhD holders in the field of Electrical and Computer Engineering, have teaching experience as well as demonstrated research leadership in theoretical or experimental activities within the field of planning and operating of sustainable energy systems, active distribution network management and smart grids.Successful candidates must possess a track record of recent journal publications in the field, experience in student supervision, and a valued background in teaching roles. Candidate should be willing to:Carry out scientific research and technological development activities in the area of Power Systems;Provide regular teaching activities in Power Systems and related areas;Improve the general training of students in the area of Power Systems, adapting it to the ongoing digitalization and smart grid paradigms;Supervise MSc and PhD students´ research;Modernize research laboratories, using the concepts of Human Machine Interface (HMI), Hardware in the Loop (HIL) and Power HIL;Work closely with international reference research groups in the same area and in complementary research areas, and lead the application for national and international research funds;Participate in university extension tasks, scientific dissemination and economic and social valorization of knowledge;Participate in other tasks distributed by the competent management bodies, within the scope of the university teaching activity.