Open Positions

If you are interested in a PhD/Postdoc position in the Power Systems Laboratory, please send your application package including the following documents (all as pdfs) to Prof. Gabriela Hug ():
• Cover letter (including a short explanation why you want to do your PhD/Postdoc in the Power Systems Laboratory)
• CV
• BSc and MSc transcripts
• Research statement (write a 2-page description of a potential project that you would be interested in as a PhD/Postdoc project; the description needs to include a problem statement, why this problem is important and how you would approach the problem)

There are multiple open PhD positions. Specifically, there are three open positions as part of the NCCR Automation (external pagenccr-automaton.ch) which are co-advised by Prof. Gabriela Hug at PSL:

Rethinking Frequency Control (collaboration with Prof. Florian Dörfler):
In this project, we ask the question: “if we were to reinvent a modern frequency control architecture, what would its properties and structure be?” While we ask this far-reaching question, we cannot completely ignore the current structure and the fact that electricity markets are an important aspect of power system operation and it will be impractical to suggest a complete redesign and new implementation of the frequency control structure over the entire system. Hence, we aspire to find practical ways to link or integrate parts of the proposed concepts to the existing structure without adding yet another patch to the existing hierarchy.

Optimal Partitioning of Energy Communities (collaboration with Prof. Maryam Kamgarpour at EPFL)
Given the urgent needs to render energy systems sustainable, the penetration of renewable generation in electric power systems is rapidly increasing. The resulting challenges include the variability, intermittency, and uncertainty of renewable resources such as PV and wind generation. Furthermore, the system changes from a highly centralized system with a few large power plants to a highly decentralized system with many distributed energy sources connected close to consumers. The new Swiss Energy Law allows for so called ZEVs (``Zusammenschluss Eigenverbrauch'') which gives prosumers the opportunity to form energy communities and share their own production. The goal of this work is to provide ways to optimally cluster or partition prosumers/grid components into such communities and give them the means to optimally coordinate.

Enhanced Ancillary Service Provision through Small-Scale Electric Networks (collaboration with Prof. Lukas Ortmann at OST)
Ancillary services ensure secure and reliable operation of the power network by balancing the generation and consumption of energy. Traditionally carried out by centralized power plants with synchronous generators, the delivery of these services is now transitioning towards decentralized, small-scale local networks that incorporate diverse renewable energy sources and storage devices. Despite the significant potential of these networks, their effectiveness is hindered by a) the absence of control structures enabling resource coordination at the local level, and b) the lack of coordination mechanisms between distribution system operators (DSOs) and the transmission system operator (TSO). In this project, the plan is to overcome these challenges and apply it in the network of the utility of Walenstadt.