Job Description
The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft currently operates 76 institutes and research units throughout Germany and is a leading applied research organization. Around 32 000 employees work with an annual research budget of 3.4 billion euros.
Who we are …
Our primary focuses at Fraunhofer IWES are on wind energy and hydrogen technologies. Our institute is home to more than 300 scientists and employees as well as over 100 students from over 30 countries pursuing careers in applied research and development at nine sites. We secure investments in technological developments through validation, shorten innovation cycles, accelerate certification procedures, and increase planning accuracy by means of innovative measurement methods.
These duties await you …
Your PhD research topic focuses on automated measurement data evaluation for updating digital twins and structural properties of rotor blades to improve the estimation of remaining useful lifetime (RUL) along with other requirements and simulations. Your work will advance the transition to renewable energy by providing a deeper understanding of the structural behavior of blades, which will lead to improvements in the design, lifetime, and energy production of wind turbines.
A diverse working day is guaranteed!
During the project, you will develop and implement self-learning control algorithms that balance computational demand and modeling precision. You will evaluate, interpret, and combine the results from experimental modal analyses and other tests. You will run structural simulations to replicate these experiments and compare the results to improve the quality of structural models. Additionally, you will identify pathways for industrialization. You will publish your findings in international journals and present them at international conferences.
You will be part of a network!
»IntelliWind« is a European Industrial Doctoral Network, running from September 2024 to August 2028. With a special emphasis on technology transfer between academia and industry, »IntelliWind« aims to train the next generation of experts to develop intelligent systems supporting autonomous wind power plant operations. As part of this program, you will spend 6 months at the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha in Spain and 6 months at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.
The program includes several training schools with a variety of specialized courses, as well as enrollment in a doctoral program in an EU Member State or Horizon Europe-associated country. You will meet regularly with the entire student and supervisory network at sites around Europe to share your progress, discuss challenges, and learn from the »IntelliWind« community.
More details about the program …
»IntelliWind« is a European Industrial Doctoral Network, granted under the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions program (grant agreement 101168725).
To be eligible for this program, you must not hold a doctoral degree (if you have successfully defended your doctoral thesis but have not yet been formally awarded your doctorate, you are not eligible). In addition, you cannot have spent more than 12 months in Germany in the last 3 years. If you do not meet these criteria, we will unfortunately be unable to consider your application.
What is your specialist background?
You should have completed your diploma or master's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a similar field. Do you have a good understanding of mechanics or even dynamics and composites? Are you familiar with numerical simulation and optimization? You got some experience with data evaluation and analytics? Maybe you even have some knowledge of the wind industry and rotor blades? Great! Perhaps you have already carried out modal analysis and have experience in the field of scientific working. Are you familiar with scientific programming languages such as Python and eager to pursue a post-graduate training? Perfect, then you should definitely keep reading! Your profile is completed by a very good command of English, as we operate on an international level.
How would you like to develop?
We support you on your professional journey. Whether personally, professionally, or methodically, we find the right qualification measures for you. While participating in the »IntelliWind« program, you will develop a set of transferable skills, contribute to overcoming major barriers in the green energy transition, and develop a broad professional network in the wind energy industry.
What we can offer you …
We are approachable, share our expertise, and offer each other support, even when the duties in question are not our own. To take aspects of projects into consideration, we all work together closely, irrespective of our backgrounds. And, of course, we have experts at the institute who will gladly support you in achieving your PhD.