PhD position (m/f/d) – Turbulence Model Development for the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

19 Mar 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg

Department

Institute of Physics

Research Field

Physics

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Germany

Application Deadline

8 Apr 2024 – 23:59 (Europe/Berlin)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

H2020 / Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Marie Curie Grant Agreement Number

101119550

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

Yes

Offer Description

The ForWind – Center for Wind Energy Research, Institute of Physics at the University of Oldenburg, jointly with Siemens Gamesa, invites applications for a

PhD position (m/f/d)
Salary according to TV-L E13, 100%

in the “Turbulence Model Development for the Atmospheric Boundary Layer” as a part of the AptWind Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network. The PhD candidate will be employed 50 % of the time at the University of Oldenburg in Germany and 50 % at Siemens Gamesa in Den Haag/The Hague, The Netherlands. The employment is limited to three years.

The erratic and unpredictable nature of turbulent inflow imposes significant challenges for the design of wind turbines. The ever-increasing size of wind turbines calls for the development of new stochastic models and numerical schemes for turbulent inflow. An essential part of this process is a better understanding of the atmospheric boundary layer, the environment to which a wind turbine is exposed.

We welcome you to join us on our path toward an improved atmospheric turbulence model that will allow us to better predict aerodynamic loads. This model shall enable our designers to study the impact of different atmospheric conditions on turbine design and control. Furthermore, it should allow our engineers to develop mitigation strategies that protect turbines during extreme events in harsh offshore environments.

As one of the successful candidates, you will be part of the AptWind Doctoral Network (Atmospheric Physics and Turbulence for Wind Energy), which aims to provide industry-oriented training for innovative and motivated young people to face the challenges of climate change. In a group of fifteen AptWind Doctoral Candidates (DCs), you will learn to transform your ideas and knowledge into new engineering solutions, products and services to benefit the economy and society. Being part of the AptWind network will create many opportunities for developing technical and project-specific skills transferable to a wide range of applications in the industry. Your work time will be shared 50-50 between academia and industry, and after completing the program you will have a thorough understanding of the process from research via innovation to industry implementation and a robust career-defining network; see www.aptwind.eu for more information.

Job Description

The main objective of the PhD project is to develop further numerical and stochastic wind field models that consider the empirically observed presence of large-scale coherent structures and the accurate statistical significance of extreme wind gusts in the atmospheric boundary later. A secondary goal is analysing the relationship between the generated inflow wind fields and the wind turbine rotor loads and dynamics for various atmospheric conditions.

Among others, the job will comprise:

• Developing code based on resolvent analysis for the computationally efficient numerical simulation of inflow turbulence
• Stochastic wind field reconstruction and modelling (incl. uncertainty analysis) for a variety of atmospheric conditions
• Processing large amounts of wind field data by combining lidar measurements with meteorological information, possibly flow models and wind turbine load data
• Identification of turbulence structures with high relevance for the turbine loading by aeroelastic simulations
• Active collaboration with more experimentally oriented research groups, e.g. with the Lidar & Wakes team (6 PhDs and Postdocs), the Turbulence, Wind Energy Systems group and project partners
• Working with technicians and test engineers of the SGRE prototype test sites and with the meteorologists of the SGRE Weather and Energy Forecasting service
• Exchanging scientific results at meetings and conferences

Requirements

Research Field

Physics

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

The prerequisite is a qualifying university degree (diploma or master) in Physical Sciences, Meteorology, Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering, Wind Energy, or a similar field. Furthermore, the candidate must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Germany for more than 12 months in the last 36 months. The successful candidate is required to have:

• aptitude and willingness to pursue a PhD that combines numerical and analytical modelling in fluid dynamics
• knowledge of at least two of the following three fields: experimental/numerical fluid dynamics, statistical analysis of large data amounts and measurement techniques
• experience in programming with at least one interpreted language (MATLAB, Python, Julia)
• motivation and ability to effectively collaborate with a diverse and international team of researchers
• fluently spoken and written English

The University of Oldenburg is dedicated to increasing the percentage of female employees in science. Therefore, female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. By § 21 Section 3 NHG, female candidates with equal qualifications will be preferentially considered. Applicants with disabilities will be given preference in case of equal qualification. Further, the university cares for a family-friendly working environment and offers a family service centre and children’s daycare. Full-time positions can be also turned into part-time ones.

Languages

ENGLISH

Level

Good

Research Field

Physics

Additional Information
Benefits

Research environment at ForWind – University of Oldenburg

Wind energy research at the University of Oldenburg has gained international recognition by its integration into ForWind – Center for Wind Energy Research of the Universities of Oldenburg, Hannover, and Bremen and the national Wind Energy Research Alliance of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems (IWES).

At ForWind, we maintain and value collaboration with partner institutions such as the European Academy of Wind Energy members and our research groups. In Oldenburg, our 50 physics, meteorology, and engineering researchers are collaborating at the “Research Laboratory for Turbulence and Wind Energy Systems” centered on wind physics. Our mission is to develop the improved understanding of atmospheric and wind power plant flow physics required to serve the global demand for clean and affordable electricity. Therefore, we conduct laboratory experiments, free-field measurements and HPC-based numerical simulations. Our research facilities comprise three turbulent wind tunnels, various equipment for free-field measurements at on- and offshore wind farms and a high-performance computing cluster.

 

Working environment at Siemens Gamesa

Siemens Gamesa came into being in 2017 when Siemens Wind Power and Gamesa united their wind power business. Today, it represents a team of 28,150 individuals from over 100 nationalities, all motivated to tackle the great challenge of our generation. The climate crisis cannot be solved single-handedly, and through working with our customers and partners, we engineer, build, and deliver clean energy to ensure that our collective contribution makes the most significant impact.

As the leading R&D site of SGRE in The Netherlands, our office in The Hague hosts engineers working on a wide variety of environmental models (seismic & soil, ice, hydrodynamic & surface waves, atmospheric), all aimed at enabling and improving the site-specific wind turbine design. We are complemented by software developers who expand and automatize our numerical toolchain and project engineers who tackle the real-world problems of manufacturing, wind farm construction and logistics.

Selection process

Contact

If you have questions regarding this job offer, please get in touch with
Dr. Jan Friedrich ([email protected] , URL https://uol.de/en/physics/twist ; www.forwind.de ),
Dr. Norbert Warncke ([email protected] ) or
Dr. Giorgia Guma ([email protected] ).

Applications should be submitted electronically as one PDF file containing all materials in English. Please include the reference “PhDAptwind” and submit your documents by April 8th, 2024, to the University of Oldenburg, Faculty V – Institute of Physics, Dr. Jan Friedrich, Carl-von-Ossietzky-Straße 9-11, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany, [email protected] .

The application must include:

• A letter motivating the application (cover letter)
• Curriculum vitae
• Grade transcripts and BSc/MSc diploma
• Employment references
• A one-page research statement. The applicants are requested to present their notion of the field of the advertised PhD topic and some initial ideas to tackle it. Alternatively, a more general problem of interest in experimental fluid dynamics or wind energy utilization might be addressed.

An optional attachment is a second PDF file containing the final thesis of the studies or relevant research papers (if available).

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg / ForWind

Country

Germany

State/Province

Niedersachsen

City

Oldenburg

Postal Code

26129

Street

Küpkersweg 70

Geofield

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Siemens Gamesa

Country

Netherlands

City

Den Haag

Geofield

Where to apply

E-mail

[email protected]

Contact

City

Oldenburg

Website

http://www.forwind.de/en/

Street

Küpkersweg 70

Postal Code

26129

E-Mail

[email protected]

STATUS: EXPIRED