Postdoctoral Fellow in performance-based economic evaluation for smart grid-ready buildings

For a position as a Postdoctoral Fellow, the goal is to publish at least five journal papers, help in teaching of relevant courses, and help in new proposal development.

We are looking for a Postdoctoral Fellow candidate on the topic of performance-based economic evaluation for smartgrid-ready buildings at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). The position is internally funded by the Faculty of Engineering and is related to the EU Horizon Innovation Action project, Enabling smart-grid ready building through integrated solutions and digital technologies– ENTRANCE. ENTRANCE project includes national and international partners from industry and research from Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and Estonia.

The appointment is duration of three years. During the evaluation process, priority will be given to the candidates who fit best with the scientific criteria explained above.

The position is linked to the Department of Energy and Process Engineering and the Sustainable Energy Systems group. The group has a well-established expertise in energy supply systems, building energy services, and renewables. Research activities within the group range from building energy use, building energy supply, indoor environment, energy efficiency, building services, control and automation, energy planning, building performance modelling, and simulation, to energy storage. The group was strongly involved in the Norwegian FME Research Centre on Zero Emission Neighborhoods in Smart Cities (ZEN) (http://www.fmezen.no) as well as in various national and international projects, e.g. IEA Tasks or EBC Annexes. The group is responsible for the HVAC laboratory in the department.

The PhD position will be supervised by Professor Natasa Nord at NTNU.

Are you ready to take your research career to the next level? We offer an exciting three-year Postdoctoral Fellow position that gives you the opportunity to develop a strong profile as researcher. You will also gain valuable experience that might be relevant for your further career. The purpose of a postdoctoral position is to build up a researcher profile that qualifies for a position as associate professor. The position may also offer additional skills that are relevant to the postdoctoral fellow’s future career. Apply for this position to become part of our research environment and take the next step in your career with us.

Your immediate leader will be the Head of Department.

Enabling smartgrid-ready building through integrated solutions and digital technologies – ENTRANCE

The aim of ENTRANCE (https://entrance-project.com/) is to enable smart-grid-ready and decarbonized buildings through the integration of energy efficiency, flexibility, on-site renewables, mobility, empowerment of end-users, and interoperability between buildings and district heating and electricity grids. The ambition of ENTRANCE is to develop and demonstrate solutions that promote building integration and active participation in the energy system and market through guaranteeing end-users’ comfort and empowerment while creating value for the economic actors of the energy landscape. ENTRANCE aims to revolutionize building-to-grid integration by designing new and upgrading existing technical solutions and physical interfaces. ENTRANCE will design innovative and competitive solutions to facilitate building active participation in the energy market, by tapping on the synergies of the cutting-edge digital technologies, on-site energy generation, and energy flexibility to provide services to the electricity and district heating grids.

The Postdoctoral Fellow position on the topic of performance-based economic evaluation for smart grid-ready buildings

To contribute strongly to wide market exploitation and wide spread of the ENTRANCE solutions, performance-based economic evaluation and business models to increase replicability of energy-efficient, flexibility, and smart grid-ready buildings are strongly needed. The performance-based economic evaluation will give the basis for decisions on investments to upgrade existing buildings to grid-integrated solutions. By translating costs and benefits into quantifiable figures, a clear financial roadmap for stakeholders will be developed. The research of the Postdoctoral Fellow will utilize real achieved or simulation results on energy-efficient, flexibility, and smart grid-ready buildings into techno economic analysis. Existing and new methods to plan investments and anticipate revenue streams over time based on real-time achievement and applications are the key part of the research. The Postdoctoral Fellow will use building simulation tools and programming tools such as MATLAB or Python.

• Carry out research of good quality within economic evaluation of energy efficiency in buildings
• Publish the research outcomes in at least five internationally recognized peer-reviewed journal papers
• Develop methodology for performance-based evaluation for smart grid-ready buildings
• Collect and organize necessary measurements and simulation data to be used for the research work
• Collaborate with the other PhD candidates at NTNU and the other researchers in the project to support the project development
• Contribute to writing project reports
• Collaborate with the national and international partners in the project
• Develop documentation for the developed models
• Contribute to popular science dissemination
• Apply for research funding and write applications
• Participate in international activities such as conferences and/or research stays at foreign educational institutions
• Teaching in the relevant courses such as Energy Management in Buildings and Specialization Course within Energy and Indoor Environment
• Supervision project-and master students, helping them with their research projects, and advising on methodology and academic writing

• You must have completed a doctoral degree or corresponding foreign doctoral degree recognized as equivalent to a Norwegian PhD within the area of energy in buildings or energy
• If you are in the final phase of your doctorate and can document that the thesis has been submitted or that the defense date has been confirmed, your application can be considered even if you have not defended. NOTE: Documentation of the obtained doctorate must be presented before you can take up the position
• Excellent knowledge about energy efficiency in buildings
• Good mathematical knowledge and analytical skills. A good understanding of energy use in buildings, building monitoring systems, and district heating systems
• High-level knowledge and skills to use relevant tools for the building performance modelling and simulation(e.g. Modelica, IDA-ICE or Energy Plus)
• Experience with and good knowledge of measurements, optimization and control, control platforms, and energy management
• Experience with generic computational tools, such as, MATLAB, MATLAB/Simulink, Python. Experience with statistical methods would be an advantage
• High motivation to write research proposals and work strategically to increase his/her research network
• The ability to guide Master and PhD students in relevant topics
• Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English. Fluent Scandinavian written and spoken language is an advantage

PLEASE NOTE: For detailed information about what the application must contain, see paragraph “About the application”.

If you do not already have educational competence that meets the requirements for a position as associate professor in Norway, NTNU will arrange for you to acquire such competence during the employment period. In such cases, you will also be assigned relevant teaching as part of the career-promoting work.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with Regulations for the Universities and Colleges Act (university and colleges regulations) and Regulations for the degrees philosophiae doctor (ph.d.) and philosophiae doctor (ph.d.) in artistic development work at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) for general criteria for the position.

• A high level of personal responsibility, initiative, and ability to work in a project team and independently
• Excellent communication skills with both technical and administrative staff
• Ability to adopt and work in different work environment
• Devoted and internally motivated person to work within research and academy

Working as a Postdoctoral fellow requires that you

• Highly responsible and focus on completing the assignments
• Analytical, respectful, and excellent at thinking «out-of-the-box»
• Motivated, ambitious, and eager to «walk new paths»
• Collaborative, open-minded and able to take initiatives, able to work independently and in team, with a high degree of personal responsibility
• Excellent communication skills, both written and orally
• Eager to  disseminate knowledge, both nationally and internationally
• Very good skills on multidisciplinary collaboration
• Have good communication skills in scientific writing and oral presentations

Emphasis will be placed on personal qualities.

• Developing tasks in a strong and international professional environment
• Career guidance throughout the postdoctoral program and together with you we will prepare a career plan, which containsthe skills and knowledge you will acquire
• Open and inclusive working environment with committed colleagues
• Mentor programme as a new employee at NTNU
• Favourable terms in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• Employee benefits

Diversity is a strength, and at NTNU we aim to be an employer that reflects the diversity in society and that makes use of the potential of the population’s collective skills. Our vision is Knowledge for a better world and our values ​​are creative, critical, constructive and respectful. We believe that an organization that is equal, diverse and gender-balanced is essential for us to achieve our goals.

We strive to attract employees with different skills, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to even better problem solving of our societal mission in research and education.

If you think this position is relevant and interesting, we encourage you to apply, regardless of gender, functional ability and cultural background, or whether you have been out of work for a period of time.

At NTNU we want to increase the proportion of women in scientific positions. We have a number of measures to promote equality.

The Department of Energy and Process Engineering (EPT) has Women in Science. The group is focused on supporting female Research Assistants, PhD Candidates, Postdoctoral Fellows and permanent academic employees within the Department. This support aims to help develop the academic careers of female employees, and is also made visible to our student body, to encourage them to consider an academic path. As part of the EPT Women in Science initiative we continue to build on our international network, inviting prominent female academics within and beyond the field of Engineering to speak at our events.

As a Postdoctoral Fellow (code 1352) you are normally paid from gross NOK 615 700 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.

As an employee at NTNU, it is important to keep yourself up to date with academic and organizational changes and to adapt to them.

For the necessary professional and social interaction, it is a prerequisite that you are physically present and available to the institution on a daily basis.

The appointment is carried out in accordance with the principles of the State Employees Act, and Export control (legislation that regulates the export of knowledge, technology and services). Candidates who, after assessment of the application and attachments, are considered to be in conflict with the criteria in the latter act, will not be able to be employed.

The attachments (including a description of your scientific work) must accompany the application as these documents form the basis of the application assessment. The documents must be in Norwegian/a Scandinavian language or English.

Please note: the application will only be assessed on the basis of the information we have by the application deadline. Therefore, make sure that your application clearly shows how your skills and experience meet the criteria described above.

The application must include:

• Transcripts and diplomas for Bachelor’s-, Master’s– and PhD degrees. If you have not yet completed your PhD, you must provide confirmation on your estimated date for the doctoral dissertation, or confirmation that your PhD thesis has been submitted. Documentation of a completed doctoral degree must be presented before taking up the position.
• Motivation letter describing the motivation for this position
• CV
• A copy of the doctoral thesis. If you are close to submitting, you can attach a draft of the thesis.
• A project description with a career plan on maximum 10 pages
• Publications and other relevant academic works along with a brief description of the applicantcontributionto the attached publications
• Possible recommendation letters
• Name and contact information of three referees

Only candidates with the complete application documentation will be considered for evaluation.

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. Description of the documentation required can be found here. If you already have a statement from Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir), please attach this as well.

Joint works will be considered. If it is difficult to identify your contribution to joint works, you must attach a brief description of your participation.

If you have had leave or another break in your career, it is important that this is stated in your application so that the selection committee can take this into account and that the amount of your research may be reduced as a result.

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

NTNU recognizes a wide range of academic contributions and is committed to follow evaluation criteria for research quality according to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment DORA and the obligations in CoARA (responsible assessment of research and recognition of a greater breadth of academic contributions in accordance with NTNU’s social mission).

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

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Professor Natasa Nord, phone:+47 73 59 33 38, email:natasa.nord@ntnu.no.

If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Ingrid Wiggen, HR-consultant, email: ingrid.wiggen@ntnu.no.

If you find this position interesting, and in accordance 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: 05.06.2025