Organisation/Company University College Cork Department HR Research Research Field Engineering » Electronic engineering Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Application Deadline 12 Feb *********:00 (Europe/Dublin) Country Ireland Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 39 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?
Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?
No
Offer Description
PhD Studentship on
"The electrification of remote island ferries and its impact on rural energy systems."
The work funded by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) will examine the potential for electrification of remote island ferries; it will assess battery swapping, opportunistic charging and hybrid options.
The electrification of island ferry services has the potential to add large new electrical loads to the distribution network.
The ports that serve island communities are often rural and not equipped to handle such large electrical loads.
The AI-Ferry project aims to advance beyond the current state-of-the-art by considering the impact that an electrified ferry service may have on rural electricity grids.
Strategies to reduce the impact on the local grid and improve resilience, such as island microgrids powered by renewables will also be explored.
UCC Sustainability Institute
The Sustainability Institute, formerly the Environmental Research Institute (ERI) at University College Cork was established in **** as a flagship University Institute to bring together researchers to address complex global sustainability challenges using a transdisciplinary approach.
The Sustainability Institute is a UCC Futures Institute.
UCC Futures is an ambitious new programme of research prioritisation coupled with an innovative academic recruitment strategy across ten indicative areas of strategic importance that will build a foundation for economic, societal and cultural resilience and prosperity.
The Sustainability Institute constitutes an important part of UCC's strategy to develop interdisciplinary research institutes that have a critical mass of world-class researchers in prioritised research areas to enable a more strategic approach, create an interdisciplinary research environment, develop capacity, and engage coherently with industry and society.
The Sustainability Institute is recognised for its expertise in environmental, marine, energy, sustainable materials, and sustainable food research, and is focused on addressing three global environmental challenges: Climate Action, Circular Economy, and Healthy Environment.
The Institute currently has over 400 researchers from 20 disciplines and incorporates a number of research centres including: MaREI Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, Centre for Research on Atmospheric Chemistry (CRAC), the Cleaner Production and Promotion Unit (CPPU) and Centre for Law and the Environment (CLE).
The Sustainability Institute has a unique and outstanding physical space for conducting research with substantial research facilities at its two dedicated buildings, the Ellen Hutchins Building on the Lee Road, Cork and the Beaufort Building, Ringaskiddy which houses the Lir National Ocean test Facility (NOTF) along with research facilities across UCC campus.
MaREI Centre for energy, climate, and marine
The successful PhD will be based in the MaREI Centre for energy, climate and marine headquartered in the Sustainability Institute in University College Cork.
MaREI is a key research centre within UCC's Sustainability Institute, which is an internationally recognised Institute for environmental research dedicated to the understanding and protection of our natural environment and to developing innovative technologies, tools and services to facilitate a transformation to a zero carbon and resource efficient society.
The MaREI Centre is a Research Ireland funded research centre, which includes for 13 other Universities and Third Level Institutes from across Ireland, has 100 industrial partners and has accumulated research funding of over €130m.
It combines the expertise of a wide range of research groups and industry partners, with the shared mission of solving the main scientific, technical and socio-economic challenges across the climate, energy and marine spaces.
MaREI is also funded by SEAI, EI, EPA, ERDF, EU, HEA, Marine Institute, and DCCAE, as well as through contributions from our industry partners.
Researchers in the MaREI Centre have over 30 years of experience in conducting fundamental and applied research supported by competitively won national and international funding, and commercial contracts with government agencies and industry.
MaREI's strengths lie in the multi-disciplinary nature of its research teams, allowing it to combine insights across areas such as Marine Renewable Energy Technologies, Materials & Structures, Observations & Operations, Coastal & Marine Systems, Bioenergy, Energy Policy & Modelling and Renewable Energy Management.
The successful PhD applicant will be supervised by Dr Barry Hayes as the lead supervisor, with support from a supervisory team comprising UCC and MaREI experts in sustainable energy systems.
Dr Hayes leads a group of approximately 10 researchers at UCC and the MaREI Centre focused on the electricity grid integration of sustainable energy technologies and the operation and planning of future power systems.
Our research group has won numerous awards from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and other leading international institutions for our contributions to research in the field of electrical power systems.
The successful PhD candidate will join a vibrant, welcoming group of outstanding postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers and will be based at the School of Engineering and Architecture on UCC's beautiful main campus near Cork city centre.
They will have access to excellent resources to support their research at UCC including high performance computing facilities; industry-standard power systems software; real-time simulation tools; and a 400 V three-phase laboratory microgrid.
The AI-Ferry Project is led by Prof Jerry D Murphy (Director of the Research Ireland MaREI Centre and Chair of Civil Engineering), and the successful PhD applicant will work closely with researchers from MaREI's Circular Economy Energy and Environmental Systems (CEEES) Research Group led by Prof Murphy, Dr Archishman Bose (Eli Lilly Lecturer at Process and Chemical Engineering), Dr Richard O'Shea (Lecturer in Sustainability in Enterprise), and Dr David Wall (Senior Lecturer in Transportation).
Duration and Start Date:
48-month duration, starting July 1st, ****
Research Project information:
Alternative Indigenous fuels produced in circular economy systems for use in island Ferry services in Ireland (AI-Ferry)
Short distance maritime transport, such as ferries operating across inlets and rivers, plays a crucial role in Ireland's transportation network.
As an island nation, Ireland relies heavily on maritime transport for both passenger and goods movement.
In ****, the maritime transport sector generated €2.3 billion in turnover and employed over 5,000 people.
Additionally, sea-based transport accounted for 85% of the total volume and 56% of the total value of goods traded in Ireland.
This sector is not only vital for economic growth but also for connecting communities and supporting tourism.
However, this sector also contributes significantly to transport emissions, necessitating urgent action to mitigate its environmental impact.
Ireland aims to reduce emissions by 51% by ****.
Understanding and addressing the emissions from short distance maritime transport is essential to achieving these ambitious targets.
There is a lack of detailed data on the annual emissions from short distance maritime transport in Ireland.
Existing studies often focus on larger, international routes, leaving a gap in understanding domestic ferries and other short distance vessels.
While alternative fuels like hydrogen, electricity and biofuels are promising, their practical application in short distance maritime transport is not well researched.
The challenges and benefits of these fuels need thorough investigation.
Additionally, the economic feasibility and operational challenges of decarbonisation measures are not well understood.
Research is needed to identify cost implications, barriers, and incentives for adopting low-emission technologies including impacts on port decarbonisation strategies.
Furthermore, more research is needed on the effectiveness of current policy and regulatory frameworks in promoting emission reductions in the maritime sector.
The AI-Ferry project aims to advance beyond the current state-of-the-art and provide clarity to a range of stakeholders by assessing the feasibility of use of alternative indigenous low carbon fuels for ferries that serve Ireland's offshore island communities.
A major theme will include for examining the feasibility of electrifying the ferry routes either in battery only mode or hybrid operation.
This then leads onto examination of alternative indigenous fuels such as biomethane (produced via circular bioeconomy systems), or hydrogen (produced via electrolysis of water using indigenous renewable electricity).
The proposed project consists of 6 interlinked work packages, that will help provide key industry and government stakeholders greater clarity with regards to the technical, economic, and environmental feasibility of electrifying ferry services to Ireland's remote, offshore island communities.
An overview of the proposed work packages of the AI-Ferry project is provided in Figure 1.
Figure 1 – Overview of proposed work packages within the AI-Ferry project
The Position
One PhD studentship is being advertised.
The position is a 48 month fully-funded PhD (tax-free stipend of €25,000 per year andtuition fees covered at the EU rate; Non-EU applicants may be required to pay additional non-EU fees)which will be based at the School of Engineering and Architecture in University College Cork in MaREI.
Duration and Start Date:
48-month duration, starting July 1st, ****
Criteria
First-class honours degree (or equivalent) in electrical engineering, energy engineering, or a closely related discipline.
Experience in modelling and analysing electrical energy systems.
Capability of working within a project team to achieve results.
Good communication, organisation, and interpersonal skills.
Please email
your CV
and
a ****-word perspective on theelectrification of remote island ferries
to Dr Barry Hayes ( ****** ) by noon on Thursday the 12th February ****.
Please use the following in your email subject line when submitting your application:
#J-*****-Ljbffr