Postdoctoral Researcher in Electrification and Sector Coupling

The Group for Sustainability and Technology (SusTec) within the Department of Management, Technology, and Economics of ETH Zürich investigates the role of policy, technological innovation, and institutional and organizational strategies on the path to a decarbonized energy system and a circular economy. To strengthen our team, we are looking for a Postdoctoral Researcher in Electrification and Sector Coupling.

You are expected to conduct research toward a decarbonized energy and transportation system, contributing to the development of new modeling at the intersection of engineering, economics, and policy. Your research will address how policies and markets should change to support widespread electrification across multiple sectors, developing new modeling and optimization tools to represent those changes. The position focuses on two main sectors: electric vehicle charging and electrification in industry. Possible questions include: 

• What business models could lead to the widespread adoption of V2G? What would be the benefits? When, where, and under what mobility, electricity system, market, and policy conditions?
• Which sector coupling technologies for industry decarbonization can become cost effective? When, where, and under what market, energy system, and policy conditions? 

The project will involve a collaboration with the ETH Energy Science Center, the ETH AI Center, and large industry partners. Advising PhD and Master’s students will be an integral part of your role. You will also be involved in some of the group’s teaching activities and gain experience leading research projects and teams.

“In general, doctoral / postdoctoral researchers at ETH Zurich have a full-time employment. A part-time employment may only be considered in exceptional cases (e.g. child- or familycare, other projects or employment).”

Your previous activities should reflect a strong interest in sustainability, energy system decarbonization, and/or transportation electrification. You should have experience working with techno-economic modeling and models of large-scale energy systems, electric vehicle charging, electricity markets, electrification, industry decarbonisation, and/or the integration of other storage or flexibility technologies. Experience with research on policymaking or innovation is not required, but an additional asset. 

You should hold or soon hold a PhD in engineering, have a strong technical background, and be proficient in programming. You should have clear aspirations to pursue an academic career and have an excellent academic record with publications in well-respected journals. We are looking for someone whose working style is team-oriented, who has strong communication skills, and who is proficient in English. German skills are not required, but an additional asset.

We offer a positive research environment in a large, dynamic team at a globally leading academic institution. In our group, you will benefit from frequent interactions with leading researchers from across a vibrant community of energy system research at ETH Zürich and around the world. The project will be supervised by Senior Researcher Dr. Siobhan Powell, with Prof. Volker Hoffmann as the leader of the research group. The annual salary is very competitive (see ETH Zurich regulations). The contract is initially limited to one year with planned extension for several years. The starting date is negotiable, but we are aiming to fill this position as soon as possible. Note that this role is based in Zürich, Switzerland – remote work from outside of Switzerland is not possible due to legal constraints.