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)
Optimal control for large offshore wind turbines and wind farms (E13 TV-L, 100 %)
To fulfil the needs of sustainable power generation systems, the value of wind energy must be optimised. To facilitate this, new control and operational strategies for wind turbines and wind farms are required. This project focuses on the development of control algorithms that optimise the wind turbine and wind farm dynamic response. The control algorithms should adapt to the changing dynamics and structural health from individual turbines. Validation will be performed in simulations and experimentally in our turbulent wind tunnel with model wind turbines.
Job description
Your PhD project is integrated in the second funding period of the Collaborative Research Centre 1463 Offshore Megastructures (www.sfb1463.uni-hannover.de/en/) of the German Research Foundation. In the first funding period, a novel concept for extremely large wind turbines, the so-called hybrid-lambda turbine, was developed and validated by simulations and wind tunnel experiments. The main objective of your PhD project is to advance the concept to the next level. This includes the development of control algorithms for individual wind turbines and for wind farms that improve energy capture and limit structural loads, while adapting to changing conditions of wind inflow, turbine health status and power market.
Among others, your tasks will comprise:
- Development of a data-driven model for power output and structural loads in a wind farm consisting of hybrid-lambda turbines.
- Design of control strategies for compensating wake-induced power losses and loads under varying and uncertain conditions
- Development of a decision-making framework for choosing operating modes of individual wind turbines in the wind farm control context
- Planning, preparing, conducting and analysing wind tunnel experiments for validation of control algorithms with model wind turbines and extensive measurement equipment.
- Cooperating closely with partners from the Collaborative Research Centre and international researchers.
- Assisting in the project organisation, funding acquisition, outreach and teaching.
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,
- PhD network, trainings and cooperation with research groups within the Collaborative Research Centre,
- 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 until 31.12.2028. The payment is based on the collective agreement for the public service in the German federal states, TV-L E13, for a full position.
Candidate profile
Requirements for employment include:
- a qualifying university master’s degree in Control or Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering, Physical Sciences, Wind Energy, Renewable Energy or equivalent,
- aptitude and willingness to pursue a PhD with numerical and experimental aspects,
- profound knowledge of control engineering, preferably with experimental experience,
- 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 with wind energy: wind turbine dynamics, wind turbine control, wake interaction, wind farm control,
- experience abroad of several months during the school, study period or employment after graduation,
- and good German skills.
Contact
For questions regarding this job opportunity, please contact Dr. Vlaho Petrović at +49(0)441/798-5062 or preferably by email at vlaho.petrovic@uol.de. Further information is available at www.forwind.de/en/ and https://uol.de/en/physics/research/we-sys.
Please submit your application electronically as one PDF file by 5 January 2025 to wesys.bewerbungen@uni-oldenburg.de and include reference #FW110.
The pdf file must include either in English or German:
• A letter motivating your application
• Curriculum vitae
• A one-page research statement. You are requested to present your notion of the field of the advertised PhD topic and some initial ideas for tackling it.
• Grade transcripts and BSc/MSc diploma
• Employment references A second PDF file containing your master thesis or relevant research papers (if available) is an optional attachment.
We are looking forward to receiving your application.
