PhD in Machine Learning-Based Renewable Energy Forecasting

Job description

IMEC

​imec is the world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies. The combination of our widely acclaimed leadership in microchip technology and profound software and ICT expertise is what makes us unique. By leveraging our world-class infrastructure and local and global ecosystem of partners across a multitude of industries, we create groundbreaking innovation in application domains such as healthcare, smart cities and mobility, logistics and manufacturing, and energy.

As a trusted partner for companies, start-ups and universities we bring together close to 3,500 brilliant minds from over 70 nationalities. Imec is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium and also has distributed R&D groups at a number of Flemish universities, in the Netherlands, Taiwan, USA, China, and offices in India and Japan. All of these particular traits make imec to be a top-class employer.

University of Antwerp – imec IDLab Research group

The Internet & Data Lab (IDLab) is an imec research group at the University of Antwerp and Ghent University. IDLab focuses its research on internet technologies and data science. IDLab is a joint research initiative between Ghent University and the University of Antwerp. Bringing together 300 internet experts, we develop technologies outperforming current solutions for communication subsystems, high speed and low power networking, distributed computing and multimedia processing, machine learning, artificial intelligence and web semantics. Within Antwerp, where you will work, the overall IDLab research areas are machine learning and wireless networking. IDLab has a unique research infrastructure used in numerous national and international collaborations.
IDLab collaborates with many universities and research centers worldwide and jointly develops advanced technologies with industry (R&D centers from international companies, Flanders’ top innovating large companies and SMEs, as well as numerous ambitious startups).

For further development of the IDLab AI Applications team in the machine learning cluster, we are looking for a PhD candidate in applied artificial intelligence for the renewable energy sector, with a focus on improving prediction models.

The AI Applications team aims to bring state-of-the-art machine learning methods to industry, bridging the gap between fundamental research and applications. The team conducts research in areas such as data-driven modeling, deep learning and reinforcement learning to tackle real-life problems. Our goal is to make AI safely and reliably applicable in industrial scenarios and operational services, where it should complement, enhance or replace the state of the art in complex control scenarios where current techniques fail to deliver. One of the domains in which the team applies its AI solutions is energy where the present operational and decision-making challenges in this sector are addressed by AI techniques. In support of the operations and development of a sustainable (low-carbon) energy system, the AI Applications team in collaboration with the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (RMI) combines physical-based weather models (white-box) with AI (black-box) models to improve renewable energy predictions.

The job

• In the context of smart renewable energy predictions, you will develop efficient machine learning techniques for wind energy production, photovoltaic energy (PV) production, and electricity consumption.
• You will research methodologies for the post-processing of weather model data developed at RMI.
• You prepare a PhD dissertation on developing innovative physics-based ML models to improve the predictions of intermittent renewable energy sources.
• You publish and present results both at international conferences and in scientific journals.
• You contribute to national and international research projects in collaboration with federal scientific institutes and key players in the energy industry.
• You interface and collaborate on a technical level with research partners, and will deploy your models in the energy industry in support of the transition towards clean energy.

Job requirements

• You have (or will receive within a few months) a Master of Science degree, preferably in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or related fields.
• You have a grade of at least distinction/cum laude/honors/onderscheiding on your master's degree.
• You are fluent in python, machine learning, and deep-learning tools (TensorFlow / PyTorch etc).
• Expertise in data science and statistics (e.g., big data analysis, extreme value analysis) is an advantage.
• Having prior expertise in renewable energy (solar and wind energy) is an advantage.
• A background in climatology and meteorology is desirable, but not mandatory.
• Having published in high-ranking conferences and journals in the field is an advantage.
• You know how to prioritize and can deliver in time.
• You are well-organized and able to autonomously plan and execute tasks.
• You are a team player and have strong communication skills. Close collaboration with researchers at RMI and IDLab is expected.
• Your English is fluent, both speaking and writing; language proficiency in Dutch is a plus.

More information on the PhD topic: dr. Hossein Tabari - hossein.tabari@uantwerpen.be

HR-related questions: Michelle Nietvelt – michelle.nietvelt@uantwerpen.be