13 open PhD positions for future Geothermal Experts – ITN EASYGO project, deadline Oct. 31, 2020

A prestigious EUR 3.4 million fund has been awarded by the European Commission to the project of Dr. Maren Brehme at TU Delft entitled ‘EASYGO: Efficiency and Safety in Geothermal Operations‘. It is part of the Innovative Training Networks meant for extraordinary global research as well as excellent training opportunities for PhD candidates to reach doctorate level. We reported on it.

Researching safe and efficient geothermal energy

Geothermal energy will play a key role in the energy transition as part of mitigating climate change. But how to operate a geothermal system in the most efficient and safe manner? This is the most important and urgent question after a geothermal resource has been identified. EASYGO will answer that question from different perspectives, integrating geology, geophysics, geochemistry, advanced modelling and process engineering. All research is aligned with two key research questions:

• How do we run geothermal systems efficiently?
• How do we run geothermal systems safely?

The project will enable 13 PhD students from all consortium partners to conduct state-of-the-art research into the full chain of geothermal operations, from production to power-plant engineering to injection. The consortium will tackle key aspects related to efficiency and safety and develop novel monitoring concepts, perform real-time simulations, develop system components, assess novel concepts for operations and test operational parameters at the field scale.

Training future geothermal-energy experts

Given the challenges in geothermal operations and the ambitious expansion plans for geothermal energy in many countries, there is an urgent need for geothermal experts with a broad understanding of geothermal systems. An important objective of EASYGO as an innovative training network is to train tomorrow’s leading geothermal-energy experts.

As Maren Brehme explains, “We would like to bring the next generation of geothermal energy leaders to the market with the best experience, skills and network, and we believe that this project does exactly that”. All 13 PhD students will work on a specifically identified project but will learn aspects of the entire geothermal operation chain in an outstanding training programme, They will have access to unique large-scale research infrastructure available at the 4 universities and 10 industry partners of the consortium. The project will strengthen the geothermal research group at TUD around Phil Vardon, Maren Brehme and David Bruhn.

Founding an IDEA League Doctoral School

EASYGO brings together four of the IDEA League partners (TU Delft, ETH Zurich, RWTH Aachen and Politecnico di Milano). The IDEA League is a strategic alliance of leading European universities of technology. This League already offers a joint MSc programme in Geophysics, but EASYGO will now bring the League to another level of scientific collaboration and will set a new standard in Joint Doctoral Education in the form of an IDEA League Doctoral School.

13 Ph.D. positions offered within the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network (ITN)

Given the challenges in geothermal operations and the ambitious expansion plans for geothermal energy in many countries, there is an urgent need for experts with a broad understanding of geothermal systems. How can such systems be operated in the most efficient and safe manner? Within the ITN EASYGO, funded by the European Commission, the IDEA League universities TU Delft (TUD), ETH Zurich (ETH), RWTH Aachen University (RWTH), Politecnico di Milano (PoliMi) and 10 industry partners are addressing this question from different perspectives, integrating geology, geophysics, geochemistry, advanced modeling and process engineering. In this framework, EASYGO is looking forward to train tomorrow’s leading geothermal energy experts.

EASYGO is seeking 13 highly qualified and enthusiastic individuals holding a relevant Master degree (or equivalent) to conduct state-of-the-art research within the projects specified below. Please do not hesitate to contact the associated supervisors in case of questions. Successful applicants will conduct their research work at two universities and in close collaboration with industrial partners. They will also benefit from the various training and networking opportunities within the ITN and large-scale infrastructure by the consortium partners across Europe.

What we offer

• Geothermal expertise by 4 universities and 10 industry partners
• Broad training opportunities within the IDEA League Doctoral School
• Unique large-scale research infrastructure of the consortium
• Joint doctoral degrees

Important information

• Application deadline: Oct. 31, 2020
• Envisaged start: Jan.-Mar. 2021
• ITN mobility rule applies. See EU guide for applicants.

Early Stage Researchers shall, at the date of recruitment, be within the first four years of full-time equivalent research experience and have not been awarded a doctoral degree.

Title	University	Main Supervisor	Link
Hydrogeochemical processes affecting efficiency during operation		Maren Brehme*	Apply
Near-borehole thermo-hydro-mechanical processes		Phil Vardon	Apply
Long-term seismic monitoring of Dutch geothermal-well activities with surface seismometers		Kees Weemstra	Apply
Joint seismic and electromagnetic monitoring system design and feasibility study for monitoring using stochastic inversion		Guy Drijkoningen	Apply
Mixtures as working fluids for geothermal ORC power plants		Piero Colonna	Apply
Novel geophysical monitoring options of CO2 injections		Hansruedi Maurer	Apply
Using CO2 instead of water as the subsurface energy extraction fluid in EGS and in sedimentary basins		Martin Saar	Apply
Heterogeneities in hydraulic-mechanical coupled reservoir properties		Florian Amann	Apply
Large scale cooling induced stress changes around deep geothermal reservoirs		Florian Amann	Apply
Physics-based machine learning for real-time simulation update		Florian Wellmann	Apply
Geometry-based joint geological-geophysical inversion		Florian Wagner	Apply
Geothermal reservoir characterization of deep limestones in the Rhine-Ruhr		Peter Kukla	Apply
Design and operation of a binary ORC plant for the exploitation of different geothermal sources, including two-phase sources		Paola Bombarda	Apply

* EASYGO project coordinator

Source: IDEA League