Developing the digital substation of the future for modern power grids considering the future architecture, IEC61850 communications for PAC and vPAC, and cyber security

Job description
ESTELAR project, funded under Horizon Europe, is recruiting a talented, enthusiastic, and ambitious PhD candidate to perform excellent research and achieve breakthroughs in the field of digital substation of the future for power systems. The objective of ESTELAR is to advance virtualization technologies for digital substations of the future in electrical power grids, overcoming current challenges and boosting the digitalisation of the power system to speedup energy transition, moving to climate-neutral economies and strengthening the power grid resilience. ESTELAR is based on three innovative pillars: advanced communication strategies, a robust computational framework, and the transformative Digital Substation of the Future (DSoF) architecture. The first pillar focuses on enhancing substation communication systems to facilitate seamless and real-time integration of physical and virtual components. The second pillar aims to boost the processing and data handling capabilities of substations across both cloud and edge computing platforms for future computational demands. The third pillar is centered on developing a modular and scalable substation architecture that incorporates advanced monitoring, virtualized protection, automation and control, digital twinning and cyber security.

Within the ESTELAR project, TU Delft is hiring a doctoral candidate on the subject: "Digital substation of the future for modern power grids - architecture, virtualized protection, automation and control, IEC61850, digital twin and cyber security".

In this PhD, you will contribute to the development of a scalable and modular digital substation architecture that integrates the current substation technologies and advanced monitoring, protection, automation, and control through IEC61850 communications, digital twinning and virtualized Protection, Automation and Control (vPAC). Hence, the candidate is expected to posses a strong background in power system automation, IEC61850 communication for PAC / vPAC, IEC62351 for cyber security and hardware-in-the-loop setups such as RTDS/OPAL-RT or EMT simulations with PSCAD.

You will conduct research to develop the DSoF proof of concept, define requirements and propose a scalable and modular DSoF architecture to overcome identified limitations and challenges of state-of-the-art substation automation systems, which combine physical PAC, digital twins of IEDs, virtual PAC (edge and cloud level) and their interaction. IEDs and vPAC coexistence is one of the most promising and needed aspects in DSoF. The DSoF architecture will aim at a TSO-DSO substation with key digital technologies integrated at the bus, bay and station levels and connected to the Control Room of the Future (CRoF) of TU Delft. The DSoF architecture will be developed considering (i) advanced communications using open standards and interoperability frameworks, (ii) real-time data and computing performance, (iii) centralized vPAC, (iv) robustness, availability, redundance, scalability and time synchronization, (v) cloud connectivity, and (vi) cyber security.

You will be a member of the section Intelligent Electrical Power Grids, in Electrical Sustainable Energy (ESE) Department, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science.

About the department
The research in ESE Department is inspired by the technical, scientific, and societal challenges originating from the transition towards a more sustainable society and focuses on four areas:

• DC Systems, Energy Conversion and Storage
• Photovoltaic Materials and Devices
• Intelligent Electrical Power Grids (IEPG)
• High Voltage Technologies

IEPG group, headed by Professor Peter Palensky, works on the future of our power system. The goal is to generate, transmit and use electrical energy in a highly reliable, efficient, stable, clean, affordable, and safe way.

Requirements
Essential:

• Demonstrable interest in interdisciplinary and intersectoral research, and specifically the interface between power systems, information and communication technologies, and cyber security.
• Completed a Master's and Bachelor’s degree in a highly quantitative and analytical discipline (electrical engineering with an emphasis on power systems, telecommunications, and/or computer science).
• Excellent academic record (grades of B or higher).
• Excellent analytical and writing skills.
• Very good command of English. The minimum requirement of a TOEFL overall band score of 100 (with scores of at least 21 for all sections) or IELTS overall band score of 7.0 (with scores of at least 6.5 for all sections: writing, reading, listening, speaking) applies to all candidates wanting to pursue a PhD at TU Delft. *Test results must have a validity of two years*
• Ability to read and critically analyse power systems / computer science / mathematics papers.
• Strong knowledge of power system automation, communcation standards and protocols, and hardware-in-the-loop simulations.
• Strong knowledge of mathematics including differential algebraic equations, discrete systems, and probability theory and statistics.
• You are independent, self-motivated, and eager to learn.
• You are keen to work with industry partners to link real-world challenges to fundamental research questions.
• Demonstrable experience with computer modelling and simulation.
• You enjoy programming and hold your code to a high standard.

Desirables:

• Knowledge of computer networking and cyber security.
• IEC61850, IEC62351 and EMT hardware-in-the-loop simulations.
• Experience with Python and machine learning libraries.
• Experience with collaborative software development (e.g. open source).

Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)
Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) brings together three scientific disciplines. Combined, they reinforce each other and are the driving force behind the technology we all use in our daily lives. Technology such as the electricity grid, which our faculty is helping to make completely sustainable and future-proof. At the same time, we are developing the chips and sensors of the future, whilst also setting the foundations for the software technologies to run on this new generation of equipment – which of course includes AI. Meanwhile we are pushing the limits of applied mathematics, for example mapping out disease processes using single cell data, and using mathematics to simulate gigantic ash plumes after a volcanic eruption. In other words: there is plenty of room at the faculty for ground-breaking research. We educate innovative engineers and have excellent labs and facilities that underline our strong international position. In total, more than 1000 employees and 4,000 students work and study in this innovative environment.

Conditions of employment
Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from € 2872 per month in the first year to € 3670 in the fourth year. As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

Additional information

• You will be jointly supervised by Dr. Alex Stefanov (Associate Professor, daily supervisor) and Prof. Peter Palensky (head of IEPG group). You will join the Cyber Resilient Power Grids (CRPG) team led by Dr. Alex Stefanov that conducts research on cyber security and resilience of power grids.
• You will benefit from extensive training in technical and transferrable skills. You will be expected to assist in teaching activities (student supervision, labs) related to your subject area.
• You will have access to excellent research facilities including the RTDS infrastructure, Digital Substation of the Future (DSoF), cyber-physical system simulators, Control Room of the Future (CRoF) and a cyber range.
• The anticipated PhD start date is between 1 January and 1 February 2025.
• For more information about this vacancy, please contact Dr. Alex Stefanov (a.i.stefanov@tudelft.nl). For informaation about the selection procedure please contact Brenda Reyes Munoz, management assistant (b.reyesmunoz@tudelft.nl).

Application procedure
Are you interested in this vacancy? Please apply before 30 October 2024 via the application button and upload:

• Application letter addressed to Dr. Alex Stefanov that explains your personal motivation in pursuing a PhD and fit to the job requirements;
• CV with a list of (academic and/or industry) references that we can contact. and
• Qualification evidence including MSc and BSc degree and transcripts.

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

A pre-employment screening can be part of the selection procedure.

You can apply online. We will not process applications sent by email and/or post.

Please do not contact us for unsolicited services.