PhD Candidate in Circumventing avian collision risk, an aerodynamic approach

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At NTNU, 9,000 employees and 43,000 students work to create knowledge for a better world.

You will find more information about working at NTNU and the application process here.

About the job

We have a vacancy for a PhD Candidate at the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA) and SINTEF Energy for the FME NorthWind: Norwegian Research Centre on Wind Energy (https://www.northwindresearch.no/). The FME NorthWind aims to bring forward outstanding research and innovation to reduce the cost of wind energy, facilitate its sustainable development, create jobs and grow exports.

This PhD position is part of the WP5 Sustainable wind development and related to avian collision risks which is one of the main environmental impacts of onshore and offshore wind turbines on birds. In an offshore setting, many seabird populations are in sharp decline due to climate change and anthropogenic marine activities. There exists yet little knowledge on the extent of collision mortality internationally, due to the difficulty in recording such collision events offshore. Also, existing collision risk models are simplistic in nature and heavily rely on accurate knowledge of avoidance. The PhD will develop an aerodynamic bird collision avoidance model, combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD) of the flow around wind turbines with the aerodynamic characteristics of flying birds to predict collision risk. This model will be fed by existing empirical data on bird flight behavioral responses to wind turbines from various avian radar studies. This model will allow simulation of birds flying within the turbulent airspace of a wind farm, and prediction of the probability of collision at wind turbines. This will be integrated into a Digital Twin (DT) framework to realize augmented reality to inform stakeholders of future environmental impacts of the planned wind farms.

We offer the opportunity to work in a very inspiring and motivating multidisciplinary research group to achieve the goal which is a completed doctoral education up to an obtained doctoral degree.

Main supervisor NTNU: Trond Kvamsdal

Co-supervisors: Roelof Frans May (NINA), Bjørn Winther Solemslie (NINA), John Olav Giæver Tande (SINTEF Energy)

Support group: Adil Rasheed (NTNU), Ana Silva (NINA)

Duties of the position

• The main duty of the position is to carry out research on circumventing aviation collision risk based on an aerodynamic approach.
• Take part in the mandatory PhD research education program.
• Conduct independent research and publish the result in recognised scientific journals.
• The candidate must engage in FME NorthWind activities as required.

Required selection criteria

• You must have a professionally relevant background in Applied/Numerical Mathematics, Physics or Engineering with a solid education in numerical methods for solving partial differential equations.
• Your education must correspond to a five-year Norwegian degree program, where 120 credits are obtained at master's level.
• You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and an average grade from the master's degree program, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared with NTNU's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic basis. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be assessed if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education.
• Master's students can apply, but the master's degree must be obtained and documented by 20th of June 2024.
• You must meet the requirements for admission to the PhD progamme in Mathematical Sciences at the Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (IE) at NTNU.
• Applicants must have significant programming experience ideally in C, C++, R and/or Python.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with Regulations on terms of employment for positions such as postdoctoral fellow, Phd candidate, research assistant and specialist candidate and Regulations concerning the degrees of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) and Philosodophiae Doctor (PhD) in artistic research national guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and research assistant 

Preferred selection criteria

• Experience in ornithology and/or ecology.
• Academic results in form of publications and conference presentations.
• Excellent English language skills, written and spoken.

If, for any reason, you have taken a career break or have had an atypical career and wish to disclose this in your application, the selection committee will take this into account, recognizing that the quantity of your research may be reduced as a result.

Personal characteristics

• Being structured, targeted and solution oriented.
• Being a team player in a group with the project consortium, professors, researchers, PhDs and scientists from the industrial sector.
• Self-driven with a strong ability to work independently when required.
• Proven ability to work with an interdisciplinary team.
• Have good dissemination skills.
• Personal skills like a positive and friendly attitude and contributing to a sustainable social environment will also be valued.

Emphasis will be placed on personal and interpersonal qualities.

We offer

• exciting and stimulating tasks in a strong international academic environment
• an open and inclusive work environment with dedicated colleagues
• favourable terms in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• employee benefits

Salary and conditions

As a PhD candidate (code 1017) you are normally paid from gross NOK 532 200 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

The period of employment is 3 years. The department might have the opportunity to offer up to 12 months in addition with teaching duties.

Appointment to a PhD position requires that you are admitted to the PhD programme in in Mathematical Sciences (https://www.ntnu.edu/studies/phma) within three months of employment, and that you participate in an organized PhD programme during the employment period.

The engagement is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants, and the acts relating to Control of the Export of Strategic Goods, Services and Technology. Candidates who by assessment of the application and attachment are seen to conflict with the criteria in the latter law will be prohibited from recruitment to NTNU. After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

The position is subject to external funding.

It is a prerequisite you can be present at and accessible to the institution daily.

About the application

The application and supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the assessment must be in English or Norwegian.

Publications and other scientific work must be attached to the application. Please note that your application will be considered based solely on information submitted by the application deadline. You must therefore ensure that your application clearly demonstrates how your skills and experience fulfil the criteria specified above.

The application must include: 

• A cover letter where the applicant describes the personal motivation, summarising scientific work, and how the applicant sees her/his background suitable.
• CV (summarising education, positions, pedagogical experience, administrative experience, and other qualifying activity).
• Copies of educational certificates, academic transcript of records and letters of recommendation. If you have not completed the master's degree, you must submit a confirmation that the master's thesis has been or will be submitted within 20th June 2024.
• Academic works – published or unpublished – that you would like to be considered in the assessment.
• The English language proficiency (if any).
• Names and contact information of at least three references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number).

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both bachelor's and master's education, in addition to other higher education. Description of the documentation required can be found here. If you already have a statement from NOKUT, please attach this as well.

We will take joint work into account. If it is difficult to identify your efforts in the joint work, you must enclose a short description of your participation.

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience and personal and interpersonal qualities. Motivation, ambitions, and potential will also count in the assessment of the candidates. 

NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment – DORA.

General information

Working at NTNU

NTNU believes that inclusion and diversity is our strength. We want to recruit people with different competencies, educational backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to solving our social responsibilities within education and research. We will facilitate for our employees’ needs.

NTNU is working actively to increase the number of women employed in scientific positions and has a number of resources to promote equality.

The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the innovation capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.

As an employee at NTNU, you must at all times adhere to the changes that the development in the subject entails and the organizational changes that are adopted.

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you want to reserve yourself from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation. You will be notified if the reservation is not accepted.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Trond Kvamsdal (trond.kvamsdal@ntnu.no).

If you think this looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates attached. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered. Upon request, you must be able to obtain certified copies of your documentation.  

Application deadline: 15.05.2024.

DIVERSE INFO

Kilde: NAV stillingsannonser
https://arbeidsplassen.nav.no/stillinger/stilling/aa5ad162-3529-48f4-853c-217d114eb78a
IMPORTAPI
https://www.jobbnorge.no/ledige-stillinger/stilling/260354