About the position
The Department of Energy and Process Engineering (EPT) has a vacancy for a two-year postdoctoral scholarship within the Sustainable Energy System (SES) group. The research activity in the SES group ranges from energy storage to heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in buildings. The postdoctoral position is part of the knowledge-building project NORGIBATF, lead by the SES group in collaboration with the Norwegian battery manufacturing industry (FREYR, BEYONDER, NORSIRK, Nordic Mining and Norsk Hydro). Several Norwegian industries are planning large scale (GWh) battery cell factories to produce batteries for export. The NORGIBATF project aims to support these industries by developing competence in energy-efficient battery cell production and enabling a world-leading research environment within industrial battery production in Norway.
Current battery factories are equipped with a dry room where several important steps of the battery cell assembly are performed. The relative humidity (RH) in dry rooms should be kept extremely low (< 1% RH) to prevent impairing the long-term battery performance. Keeping such a low RH is an energy-intensive process that represents a large share of the embodied energy in a battery. Therefore, the research aims at improving the energy efficiency of dry rooms.
The main research activity is based on systems analysis where the hygrothermal dynamics of the dry room and the HVAC system will be investigated together. This will be done using detailed dynamic simulations (e.g. Modelica or IDA-ICE), calibrated on field measurements that will serve as virtual experiments. The objective of the simulations is to enable improvements in the design and operation of dry rooms. The research may also focus on the ventilation air distribution in dry rooms, in order to optimize the air distribution to keep the RH below the limit at all locations in the dry room while minimizing the flow rate.
The Head of Department is Professor Terese Løvås. The day-to-day position management is by Associate Professors Bjørn Austbø and Laurent Georges. The NORGIBATF project is managed by Professor Odne Burheim, head of the SES group.
The postdoctoral fellowship position is a temporary position where the main goal is to qualify for work in senior academic positions.
Duties of the position
- Develop a virtual dynamic model of a dry room calibrated on a real test case
- Perform field measurements to support the development of the model
- Analyse the energy efficiency of dry rooms to optimize their design and operation
- Analyse the ventilation airflow distribution in dry rooms
Required selection criteria
- You must have completed a Norwegian doctoral degree or corresponding foreign doctoral degree recognized as equivalent to a Norwegian PhD in HVAC engineering, process engineering or similar.
- If you can document that the PhD thesis has been submitted, your application can be assessed even if you have not yet defended your dissertation. Documentation of the obtained doctoral degree must be presented before you can take up the position.
- Experience with dynamic simulation tools such as Modelica, TRNSYS, IDA ICE or similar
- Excellent written and oral English communication skills
The appointment is to be made in accordance with Regulations on terms of employment for positions such as postdoctoral fellow, Ph.D Candidate, research assistant and specialist candidate (in Norwegian).
Preferred selection criteria
Research or professional experience in one or more of the following domains will be considered an advantage:
- Desiccant wheel technology
- Field measurements of indoor climate and/or energy use in buildings and/or industrial premises
- Pre- and post-processing tools like Python or MATLAB
- Data-driven systems modelling
- Building physics
- Control engineering
Knowledge of the Norwegian language will be considered as an advantage
Personal characteristics
- Confidence in working independently
- Ability and willingness to work in inter- and transdisciplinary teams
- Creativity
- Critical thinking
Emphasis will be placed on personal and interpersonal qualities.
We offer
Salary and conditions
As a Postdoctoral Fellow (code 1352) you are normally paid from gross NOK 584 700 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 2 years (with teaching duties).
The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants (in Norwegian), 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.
The position is subject to external funding.
It is a prerequisite you can be present at and accessible to the institution on a daily basis.
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 follow the application. Please note that applications are only evaluated based on the information available on the application deadline. You should ensure that your application shows clearly how your skills and experience meet the criteria which are set out above.
If, for any reason, you have taken a career break or have had an atypical career and wish to disclose this in your application, the selection committee will take this into account, recognizing that the quantity of your research may be reduced as a result.
The application must include:
- CV and certificates
- Transcripts and diplomas for bachelor’s-, master’s- and PhD degrees. If you have not yet completed your Ph.D, you must provide confirmation on your estimated date for the doctoral dissertation, or that your Ph.D thesis has been submitted
- A copy of the doctoral thesis. If you are close to submitting, or have recently submitted your thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed doctoral degree must be presented before taking up the position.
- Academic works – published or unpublished – that you would like to be considered in the assessment (up to 5 items)
- Research plan
- Name and contact information of three referees
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. Description of the documentation required can be found here. If you already have a statement from NOKUT, please attach this as well.
Joint works will be considered. If it is difficult to identify your contribution to joint works, you must attach a brief 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 a strength. We want our faculty and staff to reflect Norway’s culturally diverse population and we continuously seek to hire the best minds. This enables NTNU to increase productivity and innovation, improve decision making processes, raise employee satisfaction, compete academically with global top-ranking institutions and carry out our social responsibilities within education and research. NTNU emphasizes accessibility and encourages qualified candidates to apply regardless of gender identity, ability status, periods of unemployment or ethnic and cultural background.
NTNU is working actively to increase the number of women employed in scientific positions and has a number of resources to promote equality.
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.
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 remove 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 request is not accepted.
If you have any questions about the position, please contact Associate Professor Bjørn Austbø, email: bjorn.austbo@ntnu.no. If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Emmy Høiseth, e-mail: emmy.a.hoiseth@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: 02.11.2022
NTNU
NTNU – knowledge for a better world
The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) creates knowledge for a better world and solutions that can change everyday life.
Department of Energy and Process Engineering
We conduct research and teaching covering the entire energy chain, from resources to the end-user. We look at how energy is produced and used by humans and machines in a sustainable way with regard to health, climate change and the resource base. The Department of Energy and Process Engineering is one of eight departments in the Faculty of Engineering.
Deadline 2nd November 2022
Employer NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Municipality Trondheim
Scope Fulltime
Duration Temporary
Place of service
