As stated in the Strategic Research Agenda of the Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform, Europe needs to act now, together, to deliver sustainable, secure and competitive energy. The inter-related challenges of climate change, security of energy supply and competitiveness are multifaceted and require a coordinated response.

Nuclear fission is cited together with other low carbon technologies such as renewables and Carbon Capture and Storage technology as one of the contributors to meet the 2020 challenges. By maintaining competitiveness in fission technologies, together with long-term waste management solutions, fission energy will continue to be leading low carbon energy technology in Europe. Beyond the 2020 objectives, fission energy is identified as a contributor to the 2050 objectives of a low carbon energy mix, relying on a new generation of reactors and associated fuel cycles. This objective is to be achieved by acting now to complete the preparations for the demonstration of a new generation (Gen-IV) of fission reactors for increased sustainability.

From 2040 onwards, it is envisaged that this new generation of reactors will be operating in parallel to the advanced Gen-III Light Water Reactors now being studied, built and optimized. Developments in the nuclear field are based on a variety and a mixing of highly skilled technical and scientific knowledges: neutronics, material sciences, thermal and hydraulic engineering, mechanical & electrical engineering, modeling and simulation? The convergence of these technologies is able to provide new innovative solutions for energy systems: either the coupling of renewable production systems with nuclear power plants or the development of new materials for production, storage or control of renewable or sustainable energies.

The PhD track in Sustainable Nuclear and Converging Technologies, based on industrial sponsorship and European international exchanges, provides connections between research, leadership and entrepreneurship to graduates who will later on join large Global Companies in the Nuclear & associated Energies Sector, as well as in emerging sectors for energy production, storage and monitoring. The main objectives are to develop an international spirit with an open knowledge in methodologies of technology, economy, management and social sciences.

This track of the InnoEnergy PhD School is not yet running.
More information will be provided later on the application site, when PhD positions are open.

Final energy supply, worldwide and also in the European Community, will be based for many more decades on the energetic conversion of fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) with an increasing share of biomass and other solar based renewable energy resources, RES. The major challenge for future energy supply systems is the integration of fluctuating RES and output-controlled fossil and biomass based energy conversion processes. The development of fuel- and load-flexible systems for conversion of chemical energy carriers into final energy and chemicals at very high energy efficiencies is the focus of the activities of KIC InnoEnergy working group “Energy from Chemical Fuels”.

The PhD track “Energy from Chemical Fuels” will cover all aspects of fuel characterization, fuel production and fuel conversion in lectures and also practical work in the labs of our partners. The students participating in the PhD school will gain a thorough understanding of the fuel- /energy-conversion processes and the complex interconnection of the different energy supply systems. Besides acquiring in an international setting an excellent technical knowledge in the topics mentioned below the students will be encouraged to follow an interdisciplinary perspective in their research and to develop their personal and professional skills with regard to their employability.

• Fuel production and storage
• Fuel properties and fuel characterization
• Thermo-chemical fuel conversion
• Chemical fuel conversion
• Biological fuel conversion
• Efficient combustion systems / power plants

Current environmental constraints are fostering new opportunities for innovative energy systems as engines for economic growth. The first of these is to develop a new paradigm for energy systems that may promote energy efficiency and higher penetration of renewable energies, supported by intelligent energy networks. These challenges call for new ideas, tools, technologies, and policies, along with highly educated people to develop and implement them.

Devising strategies to cost-effectively meet these challenges requires new methodologies that capture the dynamics and drivers of energy demand—including consumer behavior and energy supply (especially renewable resources) and the networks that connect the two. With these challenges in mind, the PhD in Sustainable Energy Systems prime objective is to engage top students with industry and government in an innovative programme  to develop standard approaches, methods, and policies for improving the long-term performance of the energy systems while addressing climate change and economic development.

The PhD on Sustainable Energy Systems for Renewables uses a multi-disciplinary approach to educate a new generation of sustainability-aware leaders with expertise in energy systems and economics. A focus on energy system design and analysis, research, and leadership and entrepreneurship provides graduates with the tools to be at the forefront of sustainable energy systems development.

This track of the InnoEnergy PhD School is not yet running.
More information will be provided later on the application website, when PhD positions are open.

The research area Smart Electric Grids and Storage has recently become a major national focus in many countries. New requirements — particularly for reduced fossil-fuel dependency — force rapid changes in the energy chain, with this research area playing a major role.

Electric power grids have to adapt to accommodate different types of generation and load. Changes will occur in the geographical distribution of energy sources: some generation will be more dispersed, such as wind, sea-based, solar and biofuel sources; some generation will instead be very concentrated and remote, such as desert sun and large hydro-power resources. Renewable sources often have significant and poorly predictable variation in their output, necessitating energy-storage or load-controllability to balance the electric grid’s input and output. Loads that previously were supplied from fossil sources, such as heating and transportation, will move to electricity, increasing the load on the grid and the need for new sources.

The loading on the grid is thus expected to increase, and the generation sources will generally make grid operation more difficult than now; and yet the dependence on a reliable electricity supply will be even greater. New and improved materials, constructions, strategies and communications are key to coping with these demands.

Electric storage, by chemical or other means, is important for transportation and peak-shaving. Development of reliable, smaller, lighter chemical forms of storage is critical to the success of electric road-transport. Storage including pumped hydro, flywheels, and inductive or capacitive storage, can be used to provide balancing-power for the grid, over timescales from days to seconds.

The innovation projects within this thematic area of CC Sweden cover the required subject by considering new and improved: materials, components for the power grid, batteries and fuel-cells, control and monitoring systems for power grids, and methods for power system control and power markets. InnoEnergy innovation projects are the focus for industrial and academic partners from across InnoEnergy working together on the above developments and ones from other themes.

The PhD education in this track is closely tied to the innovation projects in the track's theme: a PhD project is usually a single task within an innovation project. The track also provides students with theme-specific discussions, seminars and courses, in order to build their understanding of the scope, importance and future of the broad subject, and to encourage interaction between students in different parts of the theme.

A number of MSc projects have been launched that are connected to the research activities in the PhD school. Click here for further information.

The polygeneration track offers the students insight into a system perspective on the technology side. The focus lies on new products with a "polygeneration perspective", which means that a combination of locally available renewable energy sources (e.g. sun, wind and biomass) is used to create simultaneously several useful energy services (e.g. electricity, heating, cooling, clean water, etc.). Furthermore, the emphasis is on technologies that can be brought to the market either immediately or in the middle and long term. Students will be directly involved in the build-up of small-scale units and will have the possibility to test the entrepreneurial aspects of these products on the commercial market.

Questions regarding the education, selection process etc. can be emailed to: info@no-spam.explore-polygen.se. More information is also available on www.explore-polygen.com.

A number of work packages covering PhD projects, MSc theses and Internship projects have been launched that are connected to the research activities in the PhD school. Please visit http://www.explore-polygen.com/work-packages/ for further information.