PhD Position / Research Assistant (f/m/d) Multi-Objective Wind Farm Control

Universität Oldenburg Logo PhD Position / Research Assistant (f/m/d) Multi-Objective Wind Farm Control Wind farm control plays a central role in increasing the value of wind energy. To this aim, wind farms need to be able not only to maximise their power output, but also to provide system services which are currently mostly provided by conventional power plants. At the same time, structural loads need to be limited or even actively reduced. Therefore, wind farm controllers need to handle different objectives, which are also expected to change during the wind farm lifetime. Job description With your strong background in control engineering, you will be designing control algorithms for wind turbines and wind farms that can accommodate various objectives, from improving the grid integration, power maximisation, to load reduction. You will be collaborating with other group members working on wind farm control, high-fidelity simulations, inflow modelling and estimation. Furthermore, you will participate in planning of wind tunnel and field experiments for validation of developed control algorithms. Depending on your preferences and previous experiences, your tasks will be related to one of the following projects: Project A: Loads-aware wind farm control for addressing different control objectives Adaptation of the control algorithm to changing wind farm characteristics, operational goals and load limits Integration of wind farm control within the control framework for the lifetime optimisation of the wind farm value Project B: Wind turbine and wind farm control in complex terrains Uncertainty quantification of measurement signals and robust wind farm control Improved integration of wind turbine control with the wind farm controller Improved grid integration, including short-term and mid-term power boosting Additionally, you will support the group in its organisational and teaching activities. 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., structured supervision of the PhD process, 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, including a PhD network, 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. Further, the university fosters a family-friendly working environment and offers a family service centre and on-campus children's daycare. The employment is initially limited to three years with the intention of further prolonging it 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. Our standardsts The University of Oldenburg is dedicated to increase the percentage of female employees in the field of science. Therefore, female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. In accordance to § 21 Section 3 NHG, female candidates with equal qualifications will be preferentially considered. Applicants with disabilities will be given preference in case of equal qualification. Further benefits Secure remuneration according to collective agreement 30 days of vacation Company pension scheme Further training opportunities Flexible working hours Health management Mobile working Compatibility of career and family Support with childcare University Sports Centre Candidate profile Requirements for employment include: a qualifying university master's degree in Control, 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, 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. Further information on the research environment Wind energy research at the Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg has gained international recognition by its integration into ForWind - Center for Wind Energy Research of the Universities of Oldenb