The rapid electrification of transport, buildings, and industry is creating unprecedented pressure on urban electricity networks, resulting in grid congestion. Construction sites often require high-power charging in locations where grid connections are unavailable or capacity constrained. At the same time, many European cities possess extensive DC traction networks for trolleybuses and electric public transport.
These networks represent a largely untapped energy asset that could provide local flexibility, support charging infrastructure, and enable new forms of distributed energy storage. Furthermore, growing numbers of electric bus and In-Motion Charging (IMC) batteries are reaching the end of their automotive service life while retaining significant residual capacity suitable for second-life applications. This project, part of an EU-funded program, aims to address these challenges.
What you do
- Conduct research on repurposing end-of-first-life electric bus and IMC batteries as second-life stationary and mobile energy storage systems, focusing on battery degradation and cell-to-cell variations.
- Analyze the impact of battery chemistry, aging history, operational profiles, and pack architecture on second-life performance, safety, reliability, and lifetime using a Digital Twin.
- Develop methodologies for battery diagnostics, state-of-health estimation, assessment, disassembly, reconfiguration, and integration.
- Investigate how traction grids can support high-power charging at construction sites through optimal sizing of chargers and mobile battery storage systems based on demand and through energy management strategies under traction and AC grid constraints.
- Contribute to two pilots that demonstrate and validate: a) a Traction-to-Building microgrid integrating PV, second-life batteries, regenerative braking energy, smart energy management; b) mobile charging solutions for zero-emission construction machinery using the trolleybus network as an energy source.
- Support the coordination of research activities with European partners, organizing tasks, meetings, and follow-ups, disseminating knowledge, and working on the pilots in the Netherlands and another European country.
- Publish in high-impact journals, collaborate with leading European partners, and supervise MSc and PhD students.
What they ask
- A PhD degree in Electrical Engineering or a related engineering discipline from a well-established university with a proven record for independent research.
- A solid background in batteries, battery management systems, battery SoX modeling, thermal management of batteries, battery lifetime estimation, and development of experimental setups.
- Experience with modeling, simulating, and building experimental setups related to one of: Batteries SoX, AC and DC Grids, EV charging.
- Excellent English language skills.
- Preferred: Experience with managing large projects with partners, planning and following up tasks, organizing meetings, and budgets.
Practical
- The position is part of an EU-funded project.
- Excellent opportunities for education, training, and courses.
- Attention to working healthy and energetically with a vitality program.
- Relocation support and a Dual Career Programme for accompanying partners are available.
How to apply
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