Millions of people across the Nordic region depend on electricity that is reliable, affordable, and increasingly renewable. Making that possible as the energy system grows more complex and interconnected is one of the defining engineering and societal challenges of our time. We invite you to join us in tackling it. We are looking for two fully funded PhD researchers to work on cross-border coordination for the Nordic power system, as part of the IFD Grand Solutions-funded Nordic-Sec project. These are 3-year positions based at DTU, embedded in a collaborative team that bridges rigorous academic research and direct operational practice.

Why this PhD at DTU?
Your work will have direct, measurable impact. You will collaborate closely with Energinet, the Danish Transmission System Operator, and Nordic RCC, the regional coordination center for all Nordic TSOs, on problems that are operationally urgent and technically unsolved. The Nordic power system serves as an ideal demonstration case: highly interconnected, renewable-rich, and operationally advanced. The methods developed in this project are designed to be general, and we fully expect them to be adopted and applied across Europe and beyond. The project’s advisory board already reflects this ambition, including RTE, Coreso, Fingrid, Statnett, Baltic RCC, N-SIDE, and Svenska Kraftnät, a network that ensures the research stays grounded in real operational needs and opens doors for collaboration and career opportunities across the continent. You will not be working on abstract models in isolation; you will be part of a team that includes industry engineers, postdoctoral researchers, and fellow PhD students, all working toward the same practical goal.

You will join the Energy Markets & Analytics (EMA) Section, part of DTU Wind and Energy Systems. Our section brings together over 15 researchers from more than 10 countries, with scientific backgrounds spanning power and energy systems, industrial engineering, control, operations research, applied mathematics, data science, economics, and more. You will be supervised jointly by Associate Professor Lesia Mitridati and Professor Jalal Kazempour, a team that combines deep technical expertise with a genuine commitment to mentorship and to building an inclusive, collegial research culture. We place real value on social cohesion, diversity, and making sure everyone feels at home. Beyond research, we invest actively in our team: we organize an annual study trip to a leading European university, where we visit research groups, exchange ideas, and spend time together as a group. We also co-organize the annual DTU PES Summer School on Future Energy Systems and Markets, a highly regarded international event that draws PhD students and researchers from universities and companies around the world, and that our own PhD researchers help shape and participate in. Our research is published in leading international journals and conferences across energy systems, optimization, and operations research.

We strongly encourage all PhD researchers in our group to undertake an external research visit of 3 to 6 months or more at a partner university or research institute abroad. This is a genuine priority in our group, not a formality; we actively help you identify the right host, plan the visit, and make the most of it. Our former EMA PhD graduates now hold faculty and research positions at leading universities worldwide, as well as senior roles at TSOs and energy companies across Europe.

The research sits at the intersection of stochastic optimization, machine learning, cooperative game theory, and power systems, and is genuinely interdisciplinary, with real latitude to shape your own focus within the project. You will have the freedom to bring your own questions and perspective. We are committed to creating an environment where researchers from all backgrounds can thrive, and we particularly encourage applications from candidates who are underrepresented in engineering and energy research.

Context and motivation
The Nordic power system is rapidly shifting to renewable generation, creating unprecedented volatility and tighter cross-border dependencies. Siloed national operations are no longer sufficient: ensuring safe, efficient, and affordable electricity has become a Nordic and European challenge of strategic importance.

Nordic-Sec addresses this by designing a unified, end-to-end coordination framework that makes existing TSO and RCC tools work seamlessly together across borders and time frames. The project’s four innovations span: (1) a shared operational modelling language; (2) an end-to-end decision-support pipeline that is uncertainty-, physics-, and future-aware; (3) incentive-compatible mechanisms ensuring TSOs are satisfied and willing to implement solutions; and (4) a standardized validation and reproducibility toolbox that accelerates adoption and builds trust.

What you will work on
We are recruiting two fully funded PhD students, each for three years, to work on two closely related research tracks within the Nordic-Sec project:

• PhD 1 — Coordinated Cross-Border Capacity Allocation: Develop advanced capacity allocation mechanisms enabling Nordic TSOs and the RCC to jointly calculate and approve cross-border transfer capacities with greater accuracy, transparency, and fairness. This involves physics- and uncertainty-aware modelling, probabilistic flow-based capacity calculation, and incentive-compatible game-theoretic frameworks for TSO cooperation.
• PhD 2 — Cooperative Reserve Sizing and Procurement: Develop risk-aware, multi-stage decision-support mechanisms for joint reserve sizing and cross-border procurement, using stochastic optimization, decision-focused learning, and federated forecasting frameworks. The goal is to enable Nordic TSOs to efficiently pool reserves and fairly share costs, while accounting for downstream impacts on balancing and remedial actions.

The two projects are tightly interconnected. Both PhDs will collaborate closely with each other and others involved in the project, and with operational experts at Energinet and Nordic RCC, ensuring research is grounded in real-world needs and ready for adoption.

Responsibilities and qualifications
We are looking for highly motivated and committed candidates from varied backgrounds, eager to contribute to cutting-edge and interdisciplinary research. Successful applicants will ideally have:

• A relevant MSc degree in electrical engineering, energy systems, applied mathematics, operations research, computer science, data analytics, control, or related fields
• Background in at least one of: optimization (deterministic, stochastic, or robust), probability and statistics, machine learning, game theory, or control
• Programming experience (e.g., Python, Julia, MATLAB)
• Interest in power systems, electricity markets, and cross-border energy coordination
• Excellent English communication skills and a collaborative mindset to engage meaningfully with both academic and industrial partners

We value diversity and are committed to building an inclusive team. We want to be clear: if you are excited about this research and meet most of the profile above but not every listed criterion, we encourage you to apply.

You must have a two-year master's degree (120 ECTS points) or a similar degree with an academic level equivalent to a two-year master's degree.

Approval and Enrolment
The scholarship for the PhD degree is subject to academic approval, and the candidate will be enrolled in one of the general degree programmes at DTU. For information about our enrolment requirements and the general planning of the PhD study programme, please see DTU's rules for the PhD education.

Assessment
Applications will be evaluated by Associate Professor Lesia Mitridati and Professor Jalal Kazempour.

We offer
DTU is a leading technical university globally recognized for the excellence of its research, education, innovation and scientific advice. We offer a rewarding and challenging job in an international environment. We strive for academic excellence in an environment characterized by collegial respect and academic freedom tempered by responsibility.

Salary and appointment terms
The exact start date will be agreed upon based on availability and preference. This is a full-time position. The appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. The allowance will be agreed upon with the relevant union. The period of employment is 3 years.

The PhD projects are expected to start in 2026.

You can read more about career paths at DTU here.

Further information
Further information may be obtained from Associate Professor Lesia Mitridati (lemitri@dtu.dk) and Professor Jalal Kazempour (jalal@dtu.dk).

You can read more about DTU Wind and Energy Systems at https://wind.dtu.dk.

If you are applying from abroad, you may find useful information on working in Denmark and at DTU at DTU – Moving to Denmark. Furthermore, you have the option of joining our monthly free seminar “PhD relocation to Denmark and startup “Zoom” seminar” for all questions regarding the practical matters of moving to Denmark and working as a PhD at DTU.

Application procedure
Your complete online application must be submitted no later than 7 August 2026 (23:59 Danish time).

Applications must be submitted as one PDF file containing all materials to be given consideration. To apply, please open the link "Apply now", fill out the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one PDF file. The file must include:

• A letter motivating the application (cover letter)
• Curriculum vitae
• Grade transcripts and BSc/MSc diploma (in English) including official description of grading scale
• Information of two references (name, affiliation, position, and email address)

You may apply prior to obtaining your master's degree but cannot begin before having received it.

Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, disability, race, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply. As DTU works with research in critical technology, which is subject to special rules for security and export control, open-source background checks may be conducted on qualified candidates for the position.

The Department of Wind and Energy Systems
The Department of Wind and Energy Systems is one of the world’s largest centers of wind energy and energy systems research and knowledge, with a staff of more than 400 people from 37 countries working in research, innovation, research-based consulting and education. DTU Wind and Energy Systems has approximately 90 PhD students. The department’s cross-disciplinary research is organized through strategic research programmes that collaborate with Danish and international universities, research institutions and organizations, as well as the wind industry.

DTU – For the benefit of society since 1829
DTU is one of Europe's leading elite technical universities. Through research and education at an international top level, we create solutions to the major societal challenges of our time and help secure Europe's global leadership in sustainable technological development. Since Hans Christian Ørsted founded DTU almost 200 years ago, our mission has remained the same: We develop and create value through the natural and technical sciences for the benefit of society. DTU has 13,800 students, 1,600 PhD students, and 6,500 employees. We work in an international environment and have an inclusive, stimulating, and informal work culture. DTU has campuses in all parts of Denmark and in Greenland and collaborates with the best universities around the world.