Job description
The Faculty of EEMCS and the Power Electronics group at the University of Twente are hiring a postdoctoral researcher to join a multidisciplinary research team working on long-duration energy storage (LDES) for grid support, flexibility & electrification of Dutch industry.
The position is embedded in the context of the RVO project “SLDbatt”, in collaboration with Dutch research organisations and ESS industry partners.
The SLDbatt project aims to develop and deploy battery technologies towards TRL 6-7 enabling LDES for 8+ hours to address energy transition goals and challenges in net congestion. Six pilots will be deployed and validated to demonstrate LDES market potential.
The goal of these two postdoc positions is to contribute to the modelling, simulation, and optimization across different LDES technologies, from device (ESS+inverter) to system level (grid integration) under different scenarios, providing techno-economic insights to accelerate their deployment in real-life applications. They will join the Center of Expertise (CoE), in charge of providing techno-economic assessments & manufacturability, scalability, & sustainability evaluations, recommendations for future LDES market frameworks, policies, & regulatory needs, and knowledge of best practices for grid- & industrial integration.
Your key responsibilities as Postdoc (include but are not limited to):
- Design, simulate, and experimentally validate converter topologies for hydrogen–iron flow-battery systems.
- Develop control and energy-management algorithms for efficient and reliable long-duration operation.
- Implement hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) and real-time co-simulation for validation under realistic grid scenarios.
- Integrate battery–converter interfaces with supervisory controllers and evaluate system efficiency and reliability.
- Collaborate with Elestor and consortium partners to translate lab designs into pilot-scale demonstrators.
- Contribute to scientific publications, project reporting, and dissemination through the UT CoE for LDES.
This position offers a unique opportunity to conduct high-impact applied research at the interface of power electronics, energy systems, and battery management. You will work closely with a second postdoctoral researcher focused on energy-system modelling, ensuring strong collaboration between hardware development and system-level optimization.
Your profile
- PhD in Electrical Engineering, preferably in Power Electronics, Energy Conversion, or Control Systems.
- Proven experience with converter design, control, and digital implementation.
- Strong skills in simulation and modelling tools (MATLAB/Simulink, PLECS, LTspice, etc.).
- Experience with hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) environments (RT Box, Typhoon HIL, dSPACE, etc.) is a strong plus.
- Familiarity with battery systems, flow batteries, or grid-connected energy storage.
- Excellent analytical, organizational, and communication skills.
- Ability to work independently in a multidisciplinary and international environment.
- Strong publication record and motivation to link academic results with industrial applications.
Our offer
- A full-time position for 1 year, with a possibility of 2-year extension according to performance, and the flexibility to work (partially) from home.
- Your salary and associated conditions are in accordance with the collective labour agreement for Dutch universities (CAO-NU).
- Gross salary between € 3.546,- and € 5.538,- per month, depending on experience and qualifications.
- Excellent benefits including a holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, a year-end bonus of 8.3% and a solid pension scheme.
- Free access to sports facilities on campus.
- A minimum of 232 leave hours in case of full-time employment based on a formal workweek of 38 hours. A full-time employment in practice means 40 hours a week, therefore resulting in 96 extra leave hours on an annual basis.
- Excellent support for research and facilities for professional and personal development.
- We are also a family-friendly institution that offers parental leave (both paid and unpaid) and career support for partners.
Information and application
Are you interested in this position? Please send your application via the 'Apply now' button below before January 5, 2026, and include:
- A Curriculum Vitae, including a list of all courses attended and grades obtained, and, if applicable, a list of publications and references.
- A cover letter (maximum 2 pages A4), emphasizing your specific interest, qualifications, motivations to apply for this position.
- An IELTS-test, Internet TOEFL test (TOEFL-iBT), or a Cambridge CAE-C (CPE). Applicants with a non-Dutch qualification and who have not had secondary and tertiary education in English can only be admitted with an IELTS-test showing a total band score of at least 6.5, internet. TOEFL test (TOEFL-iBT) showing a score of at least 90, or a Cambridge CAE-C (CPE).
For more information regarding this position, you are welcome to contact: vacancies-pe-eemcs@utwente.nl.
About the department
The Power Electronics group is a multidisciplinary group that investigates various aspects of energy conversion systems, including Battery Electronics, Energy Access, Smart Grids, Power Electronics Technology, and Power and Energy Measurement Systems. The PE group owns excellent laboratory facilities to perform HIL-based co-simulation of power systems and power electronics, and advanced battery characterisation, performance testing and next-gen BMS development.
About the organisation
The faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) uses mathematics, electronics and computer technology to contribute to the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). With ICT present in almost every device and product we use nowadays, we embrace our role as contributors to a broad range of societal activities and as pioneers of tomorrow's digital society. As part of a tech university that aims to shape society, individuals and connections, our faculty works together intensively with industrial partners and researchers in the Netherlands and abroad, and conducts extensive research for external commissioning parties and funders. Our research has a high profile both in the Netherlands and internationally. It has been accommodated in three multidisciplinary UT research institutes: Mesa+ Institute, TechMed Centre and Digital Society Institute.
