Postdoctoral position in Electrical Engineering

Description

The Faculty of Health, Science and Technology invites applications for a Postdoctoral position in Electrical Engineering. The position will be hosted at the Department of Engineering and Physics which has about 60 employees and is characterized by a friendly, inspiring and international atmosphere, with a large number of employees from all over the world. Electrical engineering is one of four subjects at the department. A large part of the research is done in cooperation with industry, national and regional organizations.

The research in electrical engineering is today established in the areas of intelligent electrical power systems and automation, renewable energy and systems. The research project of the position is a cooperation under Interreg Sweden-Norway and is supported from the European Regional Development Fund in which Karlstad University is one among the project partners.
The Postdoctoral position is dedicated to studies in renewable energy communities such as optimal energy scheduling and energy markets, energy storage and flexible demand, flexibility market and frequency reserve strategies.
The postdoctoral position will be linked to the development of innovative research in the subject of electrical engineering. This is a great opportunity for you to work in an evolving research environment that also has leading roles in the research centers SOLVE - Solar Electricity Research Centre, Sweden (https://www.uu.se/en/research/solve/projects/6.-planning-for-large-scale-expansion), and DAMI4.0 (https://www.kau.se/en/dami40/about-dami40).

Due to the postdoctoral appointment’s nature as a career-development position for junior researchers, we are looking for candidates who have completed their PhD no more than three years before the application deadline.

Duties

The main duty of the position is about research. The research takes place on the basis of one's own scientific competence, in collaboration with the department's other researchers, and shall strengthen and develop the department's research in intelligent electrical power and renewable energy systems. The applicant is expected to actively develop, lead and participate in research projects, which also includes the search for external research funds, research administration and expansion of international network. The applicant is also expected to participate in national and international collaborations both in terms of generating research and disseminating it.

As Post-Doctoral Researcher, you are also expected to collaborate with the wider community for a mutual exchange of ideas, as well as work towards ensuring that the knowledge and expertise available at the university is of benefit to society. In order to contribute to a positive working environment and help further the subject’s activities, it is important that you are present at the workplace and participate in the daily activities at the department.

In a postdoctoral position, teaching can be included in the duties, up to a maximum of 20% of a full-time position upon an agreement with the head of the department and the project manager.

Qualification requirements

To be eligible for the postdoctoral appointment, applicants are required to hold a PhD in Electrical Engineering, or other related subject, or have an equivalent qualification from abroad. The PhD must be completed before a decision to appoint an applicant is made. The candidate must have completed the degree no more than three years before the application deadline. Qualifications obtained earlier may be considered if there are special grounds, such as sick leave, parental leave, clinical service, service as a union representative, military service or similar, or service/assignment of relevance to the appointment.

Excellent command of written and spoken English is also a requirement.

Read more about the requirements in Karlstad University’s Appointments Procedure: https://www.kau.se/files/2023-12/Appointments procedure_eng_20220928.pdf

Assessment criteria

Special weight will be given to:

• Experience of, independently and in collaboration with others, conduct research in electrical engineering and renewable energy, such as within the areas (but not limited to) renewable energy systems optimization, flexible demand and storage, electrification and markets implementation including the application of artificial intelligence in power systems.
• The range, depth and quality of an applicant’s scientific work
• Ability to independently conduct high quality research
• How well the applicant can be expected to align with the conducted research within the subject of electrical engineering

Considerable weight will be given to:

• Ability to work in an innovative research network comprising universities, institutes, and industrial companies of various sizes.
• International work experience or experience in national and international networks
• Personal qualities such as good collaboration skills, taking responsibility, commitment to the organization, and a positive attitude towards colleagues and students.

Weight will be given to:

• Current experience of collaborating with the wider community as well as communicating research findings and results of development work.

Valuable qualifications:

• Recognized or distinguished teaching and assessment skills.
• Completed course in higher education pedagogy

Terms

Fixed-term full-time employment of two years, starting 1 July 2025 or at the earliest convenience.

According to present rules, postdoctoral positions can be extended to a total employment period of up to 3 years, if it is possible and if it is necessary to fulfill the purpose of the position.

Application

Submit the application via the University’s web-based recruitment tool, Varbi. Applicants are responsible for submitting a complete application in accordance with the advertisement, for providing translations of any documents written in a language other than Swedish, Norwegian, Danish or English, and for ensuring that the documentation allows for objective and qualitative assessments. A complete application should be submitted by the application deadline. An incomplete application may jeopardise a fair assessment of qualifications.

The application should include:

• CV
• cover letter describing the applicant’s qualifications and research interests in relation to the duties of the position
• list of publications (in multi-authored publications, the role of the applicant must be specified)
• copy of PhD degree or information on when it is expected to be completed
• copy of doctoral thesis and other relevant publications
• account of language skills
• two references, at least one of which is a current or former supervisor

Attach all the documents and publications you wish to be considered to the electronic application (do not just provide links). Name each uploaded document to clearly indicate its content. Documents that cannot be submitted electronically, such as books or publications, should be sent to:
Karlstads universitet, HR-avdelningen, Att: HR-administratör
651 88 Karlstad, Sweden

State the reference number: REK2025/64

Application deadline: March 26, 2025

We look forward to your application!

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