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Project Description

PhD Subject: Energy and Environmental Systems, Energy Technology

The pilot and demonstration project "Energy Transition through Efficient Optimization of Local Energy Resources", funded by the Swedish Energy Agency, is a comprehensive system demonstration and scaling initiative.

The project demonstrates how energy communities can optimize local energy resources (solar panels, batteries, heat pumps, and electric vehicles) through energy management and assesses its impact on the power grid. The goal is to deliver real benefits at the system level: efficient energy sharing, flexibility services, reduced need for grid reinforcement, and broad replication of scalable, fair energy community solutions.

The PhD student at KTH will play a central role in the technical and system-level work, focusing on the development and calibration of digital twins, advanced modeling and optimization of local energy systems, with a focus on energy communities, techno-economic analysis, grid impact studies, and scenario modeling for large-scale replication.

Supervision: The PhD student will be supervised by Dr. Jagruti Thakur, Prof. Björn Laumert, and Dr. Patrik Ollas (RISE). The final decision on supervisors is made upon admission.

Admission Requirements

To be admitted to doctoral studies (Chapter 7, Section 39 of the Higher Education Ordinance), the applicant must have basic eligibility:

• completed an advanced level degree, or
• fulfilled course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 higher education credits are at the advanced level, or
• acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way, within or outside the country.

Completed courses or course modules within energy systems and optimization methods are required in accordance with the eligibility requirements for the current doctoral education. Specific knowledge in data analysis, analysis of electrical and thermal networks, and Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) is meritorious.

In addition to the above, there is also a mandatory requirement for English equivalent to English B/6.

Selection

To succeed in your PhD studies at KTH, you need to be goal-oriented and persistent in your work. In the selection of applicants, the ability to:

• independently drive their work forward,
• collaborate with others,
• have a professional approach, and
• analyze and work with complex issues.

After meeting the eligibility requirements, great weight will be placed on personal qualities.

Final Degree: Doctorate

Information about Admission and Employment

Only those admitted to doctoral studies may be employed as PhD students. The total employment period may not be longer than what corresponds to full-time doctoral education over four years. An employed PhD student may, to a limited extent (maximum 20%), perform certain tasks within, for example, education and administration. A new employment as a PhD student is valid for a maximum of one year; the employment may thereafter be renewed for a maximum of two years at a time.

As a PhD student, you will receive KTH's employment benefits and have a monthly salary according to KTH's agreement for PhD salaries. Read more about Doctoral Studies at KTH | KTH | Sweden.

Trade Union Representatives

Contact details for trade union representatives.

PhD Student Section (Student Union of the Royal Institute of Technology)

Contact details for the PhD Student Section.

Application

You apply via KTH's recruitment system. As an applicant, you are primarily responsible for ensuring your application is complete when submitted.

The application should contain the following:

• Copies of degree certificates and transcripts from previous university studies and certificates of fulfilled language requirements (see above). Translations into English or Swedish if the original document is not issued in one of these languages. Copies of originals must be certified.
• CV with relevant professional experience and skills.
• Cover letter with a brief account of why you wish to pursue doctoral studies, your academic interests, and how they relate to your previous studies and future goals. (Max 2 pages)
• Representative publications or technical reports. For longer documents, please attach a summary (abstract) and a web link to the full text.

The application must be received by KTH no later than the last day of application at midnight, CET/CEST (Central European Time/Central European Summer Time).

Other

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An employment at KTH may be classified in a security class. If this is the case for this specific employment, a security clearance check of the applicant will be conducted in accordance with the Security Protection Act (2018:585) with consent. In these cases, a condition for employment is that the applicant is approved after the security clearance check.

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