PhD Candidate in Real Implementation of Model Predictive Control for Building Heating 

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NTNU is a broad-based university with a technical-scientific profile and a focus in professional education. The university is located in three cities with headquarters in Trondheim.

At NTNU, 9,000 employees and 43,000 students work to create knowledge for a better world.

You will find more information about working at NTNU and the application process here.

About the job

Buildings are energy-flexible in the sense that they can move their loads in time, typically to provide services to the electricity or district heating grids (also called demand response). For instance, one key objective can be to decrease energy use during peak hours while maintaining acceptable comfort for occupants. In cold climates, the space-heating is a dominant load and advanced control can adapt this load by changing the indoor temperature in time. Model Predictive Control (MPC) gets increasing interest in performing this control. While this solution has been extensively investigated using simulations (meaning virtual experiments), there are still limited examples where MPC has been deployed and tested in a real building and over a long period. However, real buildings can differ significantly from simulations. Firstly, the amount of measurement data can be limited, and not properly structured or standardized. Secondly, the building may not be built and operated exactly as originally planned. Thirdly, physical phenomena may be more complex in reality than in simulation, for instance regarding the heating system and the occupant behavior. Finally, the existing “legacy” automation system may not be suited. Therefore, this PhD aims to define an MPC setup (or technical pathway) that can support some of these limitations and to test it in a real non-residential building. The final objective is to provide thorough documentation of the test case.

The PhD thesis is part of Green2050, the Centre for Green Shift in the Built Environment. This centre aims to be an arena of networking and collaboration between academia and the industry. A hub for accelerating existing, planned, and new projects. The goal is to transition into a carbon-neutral built environment by 2050.

For a position as a PhD Candidate, the goal is a completed doctoral education up to an obtained doctoral degree.

Your immediate leader is Laurent Georges, Professor NTNU. The co-supervisor is Dr. John Clauss from SINTEF Community.

Duties of the position

• Define and develop an MPC setup (including the controller) that is suited for typical waterborne heating systems in non-residential buildings (such as schools or offices).
• Test the MPC in one real building located in Trondheim and monitor the performance of the controller.
• Document in detail the performance of the MPC setup and summarize the lessons learned.

Required selection criteria

• You must have a professionally relevant background in control, building, or HVAC engineering. A background in applied mathematics can also be relevant if there is a strong focus on data-driven modeling, machine learning, and control.
• Your education must correspond to a five-year Norwegian degree program, where 120 credits are obtained at master's level
• You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and an average grade from the master's degree program, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared with NTNU's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic basis. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be assessed if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education.
• Master's students can apply, but the master's degree must be obtained and documented.
• You must meet the requirements for admission to the faculty's doctoral program, Doctoral Programme - PhD - Faculty of Engineering Science - NTNU

The appointment is to be made in accordance with Regulations on terms of employment for positions such as postdoctoral fellow, Phd candidate, research assistant and specialist candidate and Regulations concerning the degrees of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) and Philosodophiae Doctor (PhD) in artistic research national guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and research assistant

Preferred selection criteria

• Previous experience and strong interest in control and data-driven modeling. For instance, a previous experience with MPC, ideally applied to buildings (either using simulations or real cases).
• Knowledge or previous experience with building automation is a plus.
• Excellent background in programming (ex. Python/Julia/Matlab).
• Previous experience in scientific writing (such as a journal article or conference paper).
• Good written and oral English. Knowledge of the Norwegian language is considered as an advantage.

Personal characteristics

• Able to work in a team and follow common instructions.
• Creative, pragmatic, and solution-oriented.
• Independent, able to organize the research work and to take initiative.

Emphasis will be placed on personal and interpersonal qualities.

We offer

• exciting and stimulating tasks in a strong international academic environment
• an open and inclusive work environment with dedicated colleagues
• favourable terms in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• employee benefits

Salary and conditions

As a PhD candidate (code 1017) you are normally paid from gross NOK 532 200 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

The period of employment is 3 years.

Appointment to a PhD position requires that you are admitted to the PhD programme in Engineering, Doctoral Programme - PhD - Faculty of Engineering Science - NTNU within three months of employment, and that you participate in an organized PhD programme during the employment period.

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The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU. After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

It is a prerequisite you can be present at and accessible to the institution daily.

About the application

The application and supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the assessment must be in English.

Publications and other scientific work must be attached to the application. Please note that your application will be considered based solely on information submitted by the application deadline. You must therefore ensure that your application clearly demonstrates how your skills and experience fulfil the criteria specified above.

The application must include:

• CV and certificates
• A cover letter where your motivation to follow a PhD education, your interest, and your background for this specific PhD topic should be clearly explained.
• Transcripts and diplomas for bachelor's and master's degrees. If you have not completed the master's degree, you must submit a confirmation that the master's thesis has been submitted.
• A copy of the master's thesis. If you recently have submitted your master's thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed master's degree must be presented before taking up the position.
• Project proposal: Candidates are required to submit a sketch (maximum two pages) on how they plan to use their scientific background and research ambitions to address the research questions of this PhD position.
• Name and contact information of three referees
• If you have publications or other relevant research work. For each of them, describe your own contribution to the paper and the contributions/impact to the field.

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both bachelor's and master's education, in addition to other higher education. Description of the documentation required can be found here. If you already have a statement from Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills, please attach this as well.

We will take joint work into account. If it is difficult to identify your efforts in the joint work, you must enclose a short description of your participation.

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience and personal and interpersonal qualities. Motivation, ambitions, and potential will also count in the assessment of the candidates.

NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment - DORA.

General information

Working at NTNU

NTNU believes that inclusion and diversity is our strength. We want to recruit people with different competencies, educational backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to solving our social responsibilities within education and research. We will facilitate for our employees’ needs.

NTNU is working actively to increase the number of women employed in scientific positions and has a number of resources to promote equality.

Department of Energy and Process Engineering has established EPT Women in Science. The group is focused on supporting female PhD Candidates, Postdoctoral Fellows, Research Assistants and permanent academic employees within the Department. This support aims to help develop the careers of female PhD Candidates, Postdocs and Research Assistants, and is also made visible to our student body to encourage them to consider an academic path. As part of the EPT Women in Science initiative we are building an international network, inviting prominent female academics within and beyond the field of Engineering to speak at our events.

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The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the innovation capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.

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As an employee at NTNU, you must at all times adhere to the changes that the development in the subject entails and the organizational changes that are adopted.

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you want to reserve yourself from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation. You will be notified if the reservation is not accepted.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Laurent Georges, telephone +47 73592484, email: laurent.georges@ntnu.no . If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Ingrid Wiggen, e-mail: ingrid.wiggen@ntnu.no.

If you think this looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates attached. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered. Upon request, you must be able to obtain certified copies of your documentation.

Application deadline: 22.08.24