3 PhD Positions, ETH Zurich, Switzerland (2017)

The Renewable Energy Policy Group at ETH Zurich is looking for three PhD students on policies for a transition to a completely renewable electricity system

To fulfil its long-term climate obligations and do its share climate change mitigation, Europe must completely decarbonise its electricity system by the middle of the century. As several low-carbon supply options – especially nuclear power and carbon capture and storage – are currently expensive and suffer from problems with scaling up, the European decision for complete decarbonisation is likely to equal a decision for a transition to a completely renewable power system. Such a transition will be very challenging, especially within the short time frame of 30-35 years. It is even more challenging as it is not the only energy policy aim: at the same time, Europe also seeks to liberalise its power market, europeanise the power system and lift the policy competence from the national to the European level, and to reduce energy and electricity demand. As these aims affect the same system, they will interact, but exactly how they could affect each other has not been investigated in detail; yet, there is reason to expect that their interactions may not be synergistic but rather conflicting.

To identify how these other energy policy aims interact with the transition to renewables, we are looking for three PhD students. The successful candidates will work in the Renewable Energy Policy Group – which will start in August 2017- and be supervised by Johan Lilliestam, in a new and expanding research group focused on policy analysis of options, strategies and instruments for the transition to a completely renewable electricity system. The successful candidates will work in the European Research Council-founded project TRIPOD: the transition to a renewable electricity system and its interactions with other policy aims.

Suitable candidates must have a Master Degree, preferably in energy-related fields, such as energy system or energy policy analysis, either in interdisciplinary settings such as public policy or environmental policy, and/or with a background in social sciences, including economics, political science or similar.
Any candidate will have a strong interest in academic research, underlined by an excellent track record. The successful candidates are expected to finish their thesis within three years. The workplace will be Zürich, at the ETH Zentrum Campus.

Further details:
http://academicpositions.eu