Do you want to contribute to the energy transition, engage with renewable energy experts, and develop model-based policy recommendations? Join us to explore how decentral flexibility will shape Europe’s energy future!
Job Description
Decentral flexibility is pivotal to the energy transition. Numerous companies, start-ups, pilot projects, and not-for-profit organizations offer decentral flexibility solutions to integrate renewable energies, provide storage capacity, balancing power and resilience for electricity grids. Decentral flexibility designs include, among others, peer-to-peer energy trading, flexibility aggregation of home batteries, heat pumps, and electric vehicles, as well as energy communities. These designs represent different pathways to achieving decentralized flexibility, each offering distinct benefits. While some of these designs have proved successful, others have not.
This PhD project investigates the systemic, business, behavioral and policy factors that that enable or inhibit the market adoption of decentral flexibility designs in European energy markets. As the selected PhD candidate, you will:
- Assess the current trends in the market of decentral flexibility solutions.
- Develop a System Dynamics model, and conduct simulation-based assessment of whether a convergence towards certain designs can be expected and what factors lead to a tipping in the diffusion.
- Conduct empirical analysis of consumer and provider preferences for decentral flexibility designs.
Your PhD research should result in a set of policy recommendations for companies and governments to further stimulate the spreading of decentral flexibility. The methods foreseen for this PhD project are a market and literature review, System Dynamics modelling, and empirical analysis.
You will be part of the Department Multi-Actor Systems (MAS) within TU Delft’s Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management. Our diverse team of approximately 120 researchers, including PhD candidates and postdocs, brings together expertise from policy analysis, systems engineering & simulation and organisation & governance. This interdisciplinary approach is essential as we tackle complex socio-technical challenges such as climate change, cybersecurity, and the energy transition.
As the successful candidate, you will contribute to the stimulating intellectual environment at the Faculty of Technology, Policy, and Management at TU Delft and to support its portfolio of teaching and knowledge transfer activities. Supervision of the PhD project will be shared by Dr. Özge Okur and Dr. Merla Kubli, with Prof. Dr. Martijn Warnier as the promotor. You will have access to state-of-the-art facilities, labs and equipment to help develop your research. The environment is open and collaborative, promoting daily interaction and knowledge exchange. With minimal hierarchical barriers, you’ll benefit from strong mentorship and tailored training. Professional growth is a priority, ensuring your success in academia.
Job Requirement
The ideal candidate…
- Is close to completion or holds a Master’s degree on energy transition, sustainability, management or System Dynamics, or related fields (e.g. Engineering and Policy Analysis, Complex System Engineering, Sustainable Energy Technologies, System Dynamics, or a similar degree).
- Is passionate about the energy transition, has a strong interest in decentral flexibility and energy communities and their business dynamics in the European context and is curious to research complex socio-technical systems.
- Has experience with System Dynamics simulation modelling skills (e.g. with Vensim or Stella). If not already proficient, the candidate should demonstrate a strong interest in acquiring this skill in the early phase of the PhD and ideally have prior experience with systems thinking approaches and/or simulation models.
- Has a solid basis in qualitative research and/or empirical surveys.
- Is able to work independently, manage a long-term research project, and contribute to collaborative academic environments.
- Is fluent in English and has strong writing skills. Dutch language skills are a plus.
This PhD project is grounded in system-level modelling for policy analysis, with an explicit focus on socio-technical systems thinking. It is not focused on algorithm development or optimization modelling. Candidates with an engineering background are welcome to apply if they are motivated to engage with behavioral, business, and innovation perspectives on the energy transition.
Application Deadline: 25th of May 2025
Complete vacancy text and further application instructions: https://careers.tudelft.nl/job/Delft-PhD-Position-Market-Adoption-of-Consumer-Flexibility-in-the-Energy-Transition-2628-CD/808350402/