ForWind Oldenburg – PhD position – Data scientist for wind farms, meteorology and remote sensing

by Sep 30, 2024Vacancies

ForWind – Center for Wind Energy Research has a vacancy in the research group »Wind Energy Systems« at the Institute of Physics of the Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg starting as soon as possible for a PhD Position / Research Assistant (f/m/d)

Data scientist for wind farms, meteorology and remote sensing (E13 TV-L, 75 %)

Analysing and interpreting measurement data is becoming increasingly important for the wind industry. Modern data processing methods pave the way to a deeper understanding and more efficient operation of wind turbines and wind farms. In particular, remote sensing devices like lidar or radar can estimate complex meteorological conditions and the flow field around wind farms. Data fusion with operational data recorded at the turbines can be used for new predictive control techniques, validating control strategies, and mining data in real-time or historic analyses.

Job description

The main aim of your PhD project is to further develop data processing methods for remote sensing systems, meteorological devices, and wind turbines gaining a scientific understanding and enabling new business cases for the operation of wind farms. A multidisciplinary team of wind energy experts will be available for support and guidance throughout the project.

Among others, your tasks will comprise:

  • processing and analysing large amounts of data by combining lidar measurements, meteorological information, and operational wind farm data,
  • developing new forecasting approaches, advanced wind field reconstruction methods and machine learning or hybrid approaches (combining physical and statistical modelling),
  • deriving uncertainty quantification by virtual lidar measurements in large-eddy simulations,
  • implementing and validating developed algorithms for real-time application
  • cooperating closely with a wind farm operator and researchers performing high-fidelity simulations, offshore measurements and dispatch optimisation of offshore wind farm power.

 

Job offer

We offer you the opportunity to develop your scientific career in a young and lively academic environment. You will be working in the WindLab – one of the university’s most modern office and lab spaces – while you will also have the opportunity to do flexible and mobile work. Your pathway towards the PhD is actively supported by, e.g.,

  • multidisciplinary cooperation with other researchers at ForWind and Fraunhofer IWES in Oldenburg,
  • direct collaboration with industry while maintaining the links with our national and international partners in academia,
  • optional secondment at an international research institute
  • development of personal, scientific, and teaching skills through an individual training programme and selected teaching tasks,
  • opportunities to present scientific results at international conferences and through peer-reviewed publications to extend your specific network,
  • structured supervision of PhD process.

The employment is initially limited to three years, with an intention to extend it to up to four years to facilitate a PhD. The payment is based on the collective agreement for the public service in the German federal states, TV-L E13, for a 75% position.

Candidate profile

Requirements for employment include:

  • a qualifying university master’s degree in physical sciences, Meteorology, Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering, Wind Energy, Wind Engineering, Remote Sensing or equivalent,
  • aptitude and willingness to pursue a PhD,
  • profound knowledge of experimental or numerical fluid dynamics and statistical analysis of large data amounts,
  • extensive experience in programming with at least Matlab or Python,
  • high motivation and ability to jointly work on applied research topics,
  • very good English skills.

Desired (but not mandatory) qualifications are:

  • experience in handling meteorological measurement data
  • knowledge of data processing in the context of wind energy systems,
  • willingness to support the preparation of outdoor measurement campaigns, installation of measurement equipment, including working at high altitudes and offshore conditions.
  • experience abroad of several months during school, study period or employment after graduation,
  • and good German skills.

Contact
For questions regarding this job opportunity, please contact Prof. Dr. Martin Kühn at +49(0)441/798-5061 or preferably by email at martin.kuehn@uol.de. Further information is available at https://uol.de/job/phd-position-research-assistant-data-scientist-for-wind-farms-meteorology-and-remote-sensing-161