Scholarship Description: Two PhD Research fellowships are available at Department of Informatics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo, Norway. The fellowships are for a period of 3 years.
About University: The University of Oslo until 1939 named the Royal Frederick University is the oldest university in Norway, located in the Norwegian capital of Oslo.
Applicants must hold a Master’s degree or equivalent in computer science or electrical engineering, or control engineering with excellent results. Good knowledge in programming and mathematics is preferable. Applicants must also be able to demonstrate the interest in scientific research.
Degree Level: Fellowships are available to pursue PhD Research programme.
Available Subject: Fellowships are awarded in the field of Energy Informatics:
The two research fellows will be working in the project SmartNEM (“Smart Community Neighborhood – driven by energy informatics”) funded by the Research Council of Norway. SmartNEM is a joint project with the University of Stavanger, Norway. The project will employ a total of seven PhD scholars of which three will be employed by University of Oslo UiO). One of the PhD scholars supported by the SmartNEM project will be supervised in collaboration with the Faculty of Computer Sciences at the Østfold University College in Halden and the Norwegian Centre for Expertise Smart Energy Markets (NCESmart). An industrial advisory board with members including Statnett (the Norwegian TSO), Lyse Energy, DNV-GL and the NCE Smart cluster will offer industrial guidance to the PhD scholars.
The vision of the research is to exploit state-of-the-art ICT methods, tools and techniques for the future sustainable energy systems. We have a particular interest in the following technologies for efficient and secure energy systems: fog computing, machine/deep learning, data analytics, blockchain and software defined principles. We will develop new models and algorithms to provide the power grid operators with intelligent energy management with privacy preservation in local regions.
We have defined the following topics for the two PhD fellows.
Topic 1: Secure and privacy-preserved system for smart home and neighbourhood. We will identify the new cybersecurity and privacy challenges in the smart neighbourhood. Then, we will propose new solutions to defend against cyber attacks. Blockchain can be a potential technology to ensure secure peer-to-peer energy exchange in the local neighbourhood.
Topic 2: Machine learning and deep learning for energy forecasting. Precise forecasting is very important for the stability of the future energy systems. We will study predictive analytics techniques for power stability, including regression, neural networks and other machine learning approaches for real-time and historical analytics. In addition, the renewable energy forecasting will be an important problem in this topic. This PhD project will be done in collaboration with Østfold University College and Smart Innovation Norway in Halden, Norway.
Number of Awards: Two PhD Research fellows are available at Department of Informatics.
Scholarship Benefits: Fellowships will cover the following:
- Salary NOK 436 900 – 490 900 per year, depending on qualifications and seniority.
- Attractive welfare benefits and a generous pension agreement, in addition to Oslo’s family-friendly environment with its rich opportunities for culture and outdoor activities.
Eligibility: Applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:
- The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition of being a leading research faculty. Candidates for these fellowships will be selected in accordance with this, and are expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials.
- Applicants must hold a Master’s degree or equivalent in computer science or electrical engineering, or control engineering with excellent results. Good knowledge in programming and mathematics is preferable. Applicants must also be able to demonstrate an interest in scientific research. The evaluation also considers personal drive and organizational skills.
- For the PhD positions, the purpose of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a PhD degree.
- The fellowship requires admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. The application to the PhD programme must be submitted to the department no later than two months after taking up the position.
Eligible Nationalities: Norwegian and Foreign applicants are eligible to apply. 
Application Procedure: The mode of applying is online. The application must include:
- Application letter
- CV (summarizing education, positions and academic work – scientific publications)
- Copies of educational certificates, transcript of records and letters of recommendation
- List of publications and academic work that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee
- Names and contact details of 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number)
Foreign applicants are advised to attach an explanation of their University’s grading system. Please remember that all documents should be in English or a Scandinavian language.
Deadline: The application deadline is November 15, 2017.