Research Associate in Power-Electronics

The University of Edinburgh; City of Edinburgh; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 49,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Edinburgh offers a 14-month Post-Doctoral Research Associate position in power electronics within the Electrical Power Conversion Group. You will engage in cutting-edge research focusing on converter design for offshore wind applications and collaborate with diverse team members to advance innovative solutions in energy systems.

Benefits

Generous holiday entitlement

Competitive pension schemes

Staff discounts

Family-friendly initiatives

Qualifications

• PhD in power electronics is required.
• Proven track record in modular converters.
• Experience in delivering research publications.

Responsibilities

• Work on power-electronics converter design for Wind2DC project.
• Collaborate closely with academic staff and PhD students.
• Publish results in conferences and journals.

Skills

Power-electronics research

Hands-on design

Project results delivery

Collaboration

Independent work

Education

PhD in Power Electronics

Job description

Grade UE07: £40,497 - £48, 149 per annum

CSE / Institute for Energy Systems

Fixed Term: 14 months

Full Time: 35 hours per week

The Opportunity:

The Electrical Power Conversion Group, within the Institute for Energy Systems at the University of Edinburgh, are delighted to be able to offer a 14 Month Post-Doctoral Research Associate Position Working on Power-Electronics converter design as part of the EPSRC funded Wind2DC project, and DC circuit breaker reliability modelling as part of the Network-DC project.

The Wind2DC project will focus on developing light-weight Medium Voltage DC power take offsystems for Offshore Wind Turbinesproviding a direct MVDC transmission compatible voltage output from each turbine, addressing the issue of cost-effective collection architectures, and enabling large scale arrays.Specifically, the project aims to develop novel MV machines, AC-DC interface converters and DC-DC converters for the challenging and unique conditions presented by floating wind, where innovative powertrain solutions may have the greatest benefit. A focus will be placed on exploiting next-generation wide bandgap semiconductor technologies, such as Silicon-Carbide, in order to achieve the above aims.

The successful candidate will work closely with the other members of the Electrical Power Conversion group at Edinburgh (including members of academic staff, post-doctoral researchers and PhD students) as well as project collaborators at Durham University. Applicants will be strongly encouraged and supported to generate and publish results in both conference and journal publications.

Applicants should have a PhD in power electronics, with an enthusiasm for experimental power electronics, ideally in the field of high-power applications.

Your skills and attributes for success:

• Proven track record of practical power-electronics research, with a specific focus on modular power-converters.
• Experience of ‘hands-on’ design and build of experimental power electronics.
• Experience in delivering research project results as evidenced by publications in high-tier journals/conferences.
• Ability to work collaboratively with researchers from different disciplines or technical background.
• Capable of working independently, exercising a high degree of initiative and demonstrating a pro-active and flexible approach to work.

Informal enquiries before application can be made to Dr. Paul Judge ([e-mail])

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Application Information

Please ensure you include the following documents in your application:

• CV
• Cover letter

As a valued member of our team you can expect:

• A competitive salary.
• An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work.
• To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community.
• Comprehensive Staff Benefits, such as a generous holiday entitlement, competitive pension schemes, staff discounts, and family-friendly initiatives. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page(opens in a new tab) and use our reward calculator to discover the total value of your pay and benefits.

Championing equality, diversity and inclusion

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter and we are also Stonewall Scotland Diversity Champions, actively promoting LGBT equality.

Prior to any employment commencing with the University you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages(opens new browser tab).

The University may be able to sponsor the employment of international workers in this role. This will depend on a number of factors specific to the successful applicant.

Key dates to note

The closing date for applications is 30th July 2025.

Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm GMT. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone.