Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate in Sustainable Energy Technologies and Strategies (SETS)

Sedes de realización del curso: Madrid

Objectives

The general subject of SETS Joint Doctorate is sustainable energy, technologies and strategies. Research in this area will contribute to addressing the aforementioned European energy strategy needs, taking on the challenge of providing the same level of power while consuming less energy and reducing the dependence on fossil fuels.

Defeating this challenge will entail a renewed European joint effort with a new global approach to energy. The main goal is the education and training of a new generation of researchers and high-level professionals with the knowledge tools and research skills required to contend successfully with these challenges in an international and multidisciplinary research environment.

According to European strategic lines of research and the research interests of the HEIs and industrial partners, every academic year the consortium will define a set of priority lines of research, subject to the approval of the SETS PhD Supervision Board.

Learning outcomes

The core subject of the SETS joint degree is sustainable energy, a cross-sectoral vector, to which the programme adopts a technological and strategic approach, covering applications in a number of areas, from policy to industry, including services and even end consumers.

Students conduct their activities within research groups in projects closely associated with industry needs. As a result, the research findings meet social needs and contribute to student employability. Furthermore, companies, students and HEIs work together within the Supervision Board to better address programme objectives, monitor the quality and applicability of programme results and ensure optimal implementation of programme activities, in keeping with the needs of the industry and society.

Mobility is instrumental to the SETS PhD. Students are involved in different research projects at the HEIs, in which Europe- and world-wide industry participate. This provides them an overview of the energy industry that prepares them to deal with the global challenges facing European energy sector.

After completing the SETS doctorate, students should have developed the following competences and skills:

a systematic understanding of the energy industry and related sustainability issues;

a full mastery of the research skills and methods associated with technical, economic and regulatory approaches to the subject;

the ability to conceive, design, implement and adapt ground-breaking research with scholarly integrity;

the ability to conduct original research that extends the frontier of knowledge by developing a substantial body of work, some of which merits international refereed publication;

the ability to critically analyse, evaluate and synthesise new and complex ideas;

the ability to communicate with peers, the larger scholarly community and society in general about their areas of expertise;

the potential ability to promote, within academic and professional contexts, technological, economic or policy advancement in a knowledge based society.

Graduates achieving SETS aims will be in a position to initiate successful professional research careers in sustainable energy in higher education institutions, research bodies, the industry or policy-making institutions.

Mobility pathways

While the overall subject matter of the SETS PhD is sustainable energy, it is broached differently by each consortium HEI, providing a comprehensive and complementary overview. This adds value to SETS expertise, which covers technical, economic and regulatory issues. Consequently, mobility will enable students to benefit from the know-how of different research groups.

Students will perform their activities in different consortium countries, following specific mobility pathways. Pursuant to the “Erasmus Mundus 2009-2013 Programme Guide, Section 5.2.2.”, the mandatory mobility requisites for a SETS joint degree are defined as follows:

1. all students must spend at least eighteen months in their home HEI

2. all students must spend at least nine months in another HEI awarding the joint degree;

3. in addition, students spending time in the country where they earned their preceding university degree must spend at least six months in a third HEI.

On the grounds of the above mobility requirements, three student pathways can be defined. In the pathway diagrams shown in the following discussion, mandatory mobility is denoted by arrows.

Pathway for students spending none of their mandatory mobility time in the country where they earned their preceding university degree

Students must spend at least eighteen months in their home HEI (for instance COMILLAS) and nine months in another HEI that awards the joint degree (for instance TU Delft, see Fig. 1). The remaining time, up to 21 months, may be spent in any of the participating HEIs. Students earn the joint degree.

Fig. 1: Pathway 1

Students spending some of their mandatory mobility time in the country where they earned their preceding university degree

PhD students must spend at least eighteen months in their home HEI (KTH, for instance), nine months in another HEI awarding the joint degree (TU Delft, for instance and six months in a third HEI (COMILLAS or JHU, see Fig. 2 (a) and (b)). The remaining time may be spent at any of the participating HEIs. Students earn the joint degree.

Fig. 2: Pathway 2

The foregoing refers to the first three years of the doctoral programme: if necessary, students may take a fourth year to complete their thesis.

Quality assurance
Student activities are supervised and monitored via their full integration in research groups and a yearly progress evaluation.

As explained in earlier sections, students are assigned to a research project and included in a research group based at their home HEI, where they are mentored by a supervisor. Supervisors cooperate with students in the choice of training activities, including the definition of their mobility choices, and supervise their research. When away from their home HEI, students are assigned a tutor who guides their research in conjunction with the supervisor.

All students’ activities will be evaluated yearly by the SETS Academic Committee. In this evaluation, students will be required to publicly defend a report summarising their activities during the year.

Such yearly exercises will take place at an annual meeting to ensure programme quality and guarantee that all students are assessed to the same criteria. Where possible, the evaluations will be held on the occasion of a conference or similar event organised by any of the programme’s associate members: the PSCC or PowerTech Conference, for instance, or during an EES-UETP course. Students will be afforded the opportunity to transfer knowledge to the scientific community and students and professors will be given a chance to exchange experiences in a propitious environment.

Candidate selection is responsibility of the SETS Joint Admission Committee in which all the consortium partners are represented.

Requirements

Previous studies

Candidates must have earned the equivalent of 300 ECTS credits, including at least 60 in a master´s degree and on master´s level.
Candidates must hold a degree in engineering.
Language skills

Applicants must prove that they have sufficient command of the English language, according to the standards established yearly by the MB.

The consortium has established level C1 as the minimum for admission. Students may submit one of these certificates to officially proof a similar level of command of the language:

Certificate in Advanced English (CAE - University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, UK).
IELTS: 6.5 (University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, UK).
TOEFL IBT: 90 (Educational Testing Services, USA).
DIALANG European test (Students last university will be asked to organize the examination, to ensure it is held under controlled conditions).
To be selected for an Erasmus Mundus SETS Scholarship, the candidates also need to fulfil the eligibility requirements established by the Erasmus Mundus EMJD fellowships.

IMPORTANT: The Joint Admissions Committee will decide whether deviation from one or more of the above selection criteria is justified on a case-by-case basis. Exceptional circumstances may result in conditional admission, in which case final admission and enrolment will be subject to meeting the condition(s).

Criteria

A Joint Admissions Committee will classify candidates pursuant to the following criteria:

Academic record (50 %)
Curriculum vitae (40 %)
Letters of motivation and recommendation forms (10 %)
In the initial screening, a video-conference conversation with candidates may be required to verify their motivations and the consistency of their project. The Joint Admissions Committee will draw up a final list of students admitted after this interview.

Selection Procedure

The candidates submit their applications.
Each candidate submits his/her application form and all the documentation that is required to comply with the admission criteria.
Candidates must provide their preferences regarding, on the one hand, priority research lines and, on the order hand, reserve research lines, if there are any offered for that round. Each candidate can select and rank as many priority research lines and reserve research lines, if available, as they are interested in. At least one priority research line must be chosen.
The Joint Admission Committee obtains the ranking of Candidates for each research line according to the criteria defined above.
The Joint Admission Committee assigns one candidate to each research line.
The Joint Admission Committee sorts the research lines. Research lines will be ranked from the most demanded to the least demanded as first option by the eligible candidates, and so forth. In any case, priority research lines will be on top of the list.
Candidates are assigned to each research line. The assignment procedure starts with the highest ranked research line. Selected candidates will be always the best ranked ones for each research line.
Candidates are also assigned to research lines according to the constrains regarding the number of Category A and B students.
The results are submitted to the Erasmus Mundus Executive Agency for final approval.
The final resolution is communicated to the candidates, whether if they are granted with the Erasmus Mundus Fellowship, if they are in the Reserve list, or if they are not selected.

Training and Research

The SETS joint doctorate is divided into a training period and a research period. Students will devote their first year to training (60 ECTS), in which they will learn research methodologies and study specific subjects related to their assigned line of research. The common language of instruction is English.

Along the following three years, the doctoral research will be conducted within a research group of one the degree awarding universities (Comillas, TU Delft or KTH). Students will participate in their group’s activities, which will include collaboration in a specific international project.

Following specific mobility pathways, students will perform their activities in different consortium countries. In this regard, all students will spend at least nine months in another university than their research group university and, in addition, students spending time in the country where they earned their preceding university degree will spend at least six months in a third university.

Courses overview

Students will devote their first year to training (60 ECTS), in which they will learn research methodologies and study specific subjects related to their assigned line of research. Students will plan their activities with their supervisors and submit their work plan to the joint Academic Committee.

This plan will cover doctoral courses and specific research work. All activities will be evaluated and at least 30 of these ECTS credits must be earned in specific requisite courses. The remaining 30 ECTS credits may be earned from research conducted by students in their research groups. Credits for these activities are subject to submission of a report summarizing the research results, typically in the form of a scientific paper.

The doctoral courses counting toward ECTS credits during the training period are listed in Table 1. Each course is delivered at one of the HEIs awarding the joint degree. To ensure suitable integration, only students whose home HEI is in the country where they earned their last degree may spend up to one semester of their training period in another HEI. All others must train in their home HEI only (unless otherwise decided by the Academic Committee in light of exceptional circumstances).

University
Term
Course title
ECTS

Comillas
1
Microeconomic analysis of the electric power industry
2

Comillas
1
Environmental impact and renewable energy
3

Comillas
1
International experience in the energy sector
2

Comillas
1
Decision-making support models in the electric power industry
4

Comillas
1
Regulation of the electric power industry
6

Comillas
1
Power system stability
3

Comillas
1
Quality of service in electricity supply: regulatory framework and technical solutions
4

Comillas
1
Deterministic optimization
3

Comillas
1
Stochastic optimization
3

Comillas
1
Artificial intelligence
6

Comillas
1
Advanced data analysis
3

Comillas
1
Advanced computational tools for applied research
3

Comillas
2
Advanced analysis of electric power systems
4

Comillas
2
The electric power distribution business
3

Comillas
2
The electric power transmission business
3

Comillas
2
Advanced topics in power sector regulation
4

Comillas
2
Game theory methods in energy markets
3

Comillas
2
Risk analysis and management in energy markets
3

Comillas
2
Decision methods
3

Comillas
2
Simulation methods
3

Comillas
2
Forecasting techniques
3

Comillas
2
Scientific writing in English
3

Comillas
Annual
Seminars on research methods and computational tools
3

Comillas
1/2
Optional courses from related postgraduate and master programmes.
N/A

TU Delft
1/2
Special Topics in Sustainable Technology Development, Technology
Assessment or Global Development
6

TU Delft
1/2
Technology Assessment: Technology, Society, Sustainability
3

TU Delft
1/2
Technology in Sustainable Development
4

TU Delft
1/2
Sustainable technological development
4

TU Delft
1/2
Fuel Cells
3

TU Delft
1/2
Technology and sustainable development
5

TU Delft
1/2
System innovation and strategic niche management
3

TU Delft
1/2
Introduction to industrial ecology
3

TU Delft
1/2
Introduction to renewable energy systems
3

TU Delft
1/2
Technology dynamics for sustainable innovation
6

TU Delft
1/2
Technology dynamics & transition management
5

TU Delft
1/2
Materials and ecological engineering
4

TU Delft
1/2
Renewable energy
3

TU Delft
1/2
Smart energy products
4

TU Delft
1/2
Sustainable energy economics
6

TU Delft
1/2
Wind energy
4

TU Delft
1/2
Electrical power engineering
5

TU Delft
1/2
Sustainable hydrogen storage and electrical energy storage
4

TU Delft
1/2
Fuel cell systems
2

TU Delft
1/2
Energy from biomass
4

TU Delft
1/2
Solar energy
4

TU Delft
1/2
Practical course on solar cells
1

TU Delft
1/2
System innovation and strategic niche management
3

TU Delft
1/2
Optional courses from related postgraduate and master programmes.
N/A

KTH
1
Power systems, advanced course
3

KTH
2
Electricity market analysis
3

KTH
1
FACTS and HVDC in power systems
3

KTH
1
Monte Carlo methods in engineering
3

KTH

Optional postgraduate courses will be selected by the student with his Supervisor from:

- Electric power system courses are available on
http://www.kth.se/student/kurser/avdelning/EG/kurser?l=en_UK

- Mathematics courses are available on
http://www.kth.se/student/kurser/avdelning/SF/kurser?l=en_UK

- Control science courses are available on
http://www.kth.se/student/kurser/avdelning/EL/kurser?l=en_UK
N/A

Research Lines
The scope of this research lines include:

Future energy networks: multi-energy carrier systems; security and reliability of energy systems; integration of renewables; integration of electric vehicles; demand side management; active networks; and de-centralized control.
Regulation and economics of energy systems in future European scenarios: regulatory schemes for promoting energy transition, including new decision-tools for policy makers; regulatory incentives to promote energy efficiency; and new market designs.
Sustainable development: definition and quantification of economic and sustainability indices for regional grids and microgrids; environmental life-cycle analysis; power system operations and design for sustainability; analysis of government policies designed to promote sustainability, including design and evaluation of international environmental agreements; monitoring and enforcement of environmental regulation.

Each HEI will contribute specifically to these lines of research depending on its expertise, under an interdisciplinary approach based on technology, economics and policy-making. The focus will be on the analysis of sustainable energy technologies and strategies (SETS) in place across the board, contributing to economic growth and sustainable development with the implementation of new approaches and technologies, as well as other research findings.

Research positions available:

Priority research lines. All the candidates selected for these positions will receive a fellowship from the Erasmus Mundus. Check here for the detailed list of Priority Research Lines 2010
Reserve research lines. The most demanded Reserve Line will also be awarded in 2010 with an Erasmus Mundus fellowship. Check here for the detailed list of Reserve Research Lines 2010.

Candidates with other funding means may apply to the Reserve Research lines.

Joint evaluation

Requirements to earn the joint degree.

To earn the joint degree students are required to:

successfully complete the training period (60 ECTS credits)

successfully complete the research period, with a final positive report from the joint Academic Committee

publish or have accepted for publication at least two papers in a journal listed in Journal Citation Reports (JCR),

write a thesis in English

successfully defend their thesis in English.

Evaluation of the training period

All training period activities (academic courses and research tasks) will be evaluated by the professors involved. Activities will be evaluated in the HEI where they are performed. Evaluation procedures will be specific to each activity. Exams may be written or oral, or be replaced by term papers.

Students must write a report summarizing their activities at the end of the training period, which should cover both the academic and research work performed. These reports will be publicly defended during the yearly SETS meeting and evaluated by the joint Academic Committee (which may enlist the advice of experts if deemed necessary).

Evaluation during the research period

Student research will be supervised by their supervisor/s and the joint Academic Committee. As mentioned in the preceding section, students must attend the annual SETS meeting, where their progress will be evaluated and they and their supervisors will receive pertinent feedback. The evaluation will consist in a report written by the students summarizing his/her activities over the year, comparing the progress made with the year’s work plan and establishing the following year’s objectives. Students must defend their reports publicly.

Viva voce examination

The joint Academic Committee will verify student eligibility to defend their theses (as described in some detail above). The decision on whether or not a thesis is fit to be defended is likewise incumbent upon the joint Academic Committee, to which students must therefore submit their dissertations.

The viva voce examination will be judged by a five-member thesis committee. The three HEIs awarding the joint degree will appoint one professor each to the committee, while the other two members will be called in from other institutions. All committee members will be selected on the grounds of their international experience and academic excellence in the subject addressed in the thesis. The committee will be chaired by the highest ranking academic.

Viva voce examinations will be held at the home HEI and the exercise will be broadcast on-line to all other participating HEIs.

During the examination, students will present their theses, highlighting the research problem/question, approach, the contributions made and implications of the findings. Presentations may last no longer than 50 minutes. After their presentations, students will have to answer the thesis committee’s questions. Any other PhDs in the (home HEI or on-line) audience may subsequently pose questions to be answered by the student.