PhD Candidate in Smart logistics for efficient fabrication of offshore wind farms

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NTNU is a broad-based university with a technical-scientific profile and a focus in professional education. The university is located in three cities with headquarters in Trondheim.

At NTNU, 9,000 employees and 43,000 students work to create knowledge for a better world.

You will find more information about working at NTNU and the application process here.

About the job

The offshore wind industry presents a significant opportunity for Norwegian shipyards to contribute to the green transition. To further strengthen offshore wind as a sustainable source of energy, efficient fabrication and assembly of massive wind turbine substructures will be crucial. However, the yards’ traditional one-of-a-kind production struggles to meet this demand. The challenge lies in balancing the unique engineering needs of each wind farm project with the need for cost-effective mass production. A critical knowledge gap exists in planning and controlling the fabrication of "engineer-to-order" substructures, culminating in the complete wind turbine assembly. This position will bridge this gap by exploring the application of logistics methods and digital technologies developed to improve synchronization and efficiency across the entire value chain.

The Production Management research group at NTNU’s Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering is internationally leading in research within engineer-to-order manufacturing and the purpose of this PhD position is to expand its scope to off-shore wind substructure fabrication. Your research will be closely integrated with the group’s research in other engineer-to-order sectors, such as shipbuilding and maritime equipment manufacturing, for synergy effects, transfer of knowledge, and mutual stimulation.

You will contribute to the development of planning and control processes and decisions support for efficient configuration, organization, and coordination of fabrication and assembly at yards. This will significantly contribute to the growth and competitiveness of the Norwegian offshore wind industry, ultimately accelerating the green energy transition.

For a position as a PhD Candidate, the goal is a completed doctoral education up to an obtained doctoral degree.

You will be supervised by Professor Erlend Alfnes

Duties of the position

• apply qualitative methodologies, such as case studies and literature reviews, to gain insight into the characteristics and challenges of the yard industry, and develop frameworks and knowledge on planning and controlling the fabrication of "engineer-to-order" substructures.
• apply quantitative methodologies, such as simulation and analytical modelling, to develop decision support for efficient configuration, organization, and coordination of fabrication and assembly at yards, to study the interactions in such industrial systems and analyze the domain of solutions, such as to create managerial insights and guidelines for practitioners
• collaboration with Norwegian companies which will be identified during the first phase of the research
• take part in the mandatory PhD research education program
• conduct independent research and publish the result in recognised scientific journals and present them at international conferences

Required selection criteria

• you must have a professionally relevant background in Industrial Engineering, Logistics Engineering, Production Management, Supply Chain Management, Mechanical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, or Project management
• your education must correspond to a five-year Norwegian degree program, where 120 credits are obtained at master's level
• you must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and an average grade from the master's degree program, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared with NTNU's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic basis. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be assessed if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education.
• you must meet the requirements for admission to the faculty's doctoral program
• experience in using a combination of qualitative methodologies, such as case studies and design science, and quantitative methodologies, such as simulation and advanced analytics, within the fields of operations and supply chain management
• excellent written and oral English language skills

The appointment is to be made in accordance with Regulations on terms of employment for positions such as postdoctoral fellow, Phd candidate, research assistant and specialist candidate and Regulations concerning the degrees of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) and Philosodophiae Doctor (PhD) in artistic research national guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and research assistant

Preferred selection criteria

• Scandinavian language skills
• previous experience from industry or research in engineer-to-order manufacturing. This can be proven by the attendance of study courses or other relevant activities, such as a master’s thesis.

Personal characteristics

• ability to work independently as well as in teams
• good communication skills and ability to work in close contact with industry
• hard working, with drive and determination
• modest, open to feedback and input from others as well as able to respect, collaborate, and negotiate with others

Emphasis will be placed on personal and interpersonal qualities.

We offer

• exciting and stimulating tasks in a strong international academic environment
• an open and inclusive work environment with dedicated colleagues
• favourable terms in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
• employee benefits

Salary and conditions

As a PhD candidate (code 1017) you are normally paid from gross NOK 532 200 per annum before tax, depending on qualifications and seniority. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

The period of employment is 3 years.

Appointment to a PhD position requires that you are admitted to the PhD programme in Engineering within three months of employment, and that you participate in an organized PhD programme during the employment period.

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After the appointment you must assume that there may be changes in the area of work.

It is a prerequisite you can be present at and accessible to the institution daily.

About the application

The application and supporting documentation to be used as the basis for the assessment must be in English.

Publications and other scientific work must be attached to the application. Please note that your application will be considered based solely on information submitted by the application deadline. You must therefore ensure that your application clearly demonstrates how your skills and experience fulfil the criteria specified above.

The application must include:

• CV and certificates
• research plan; 5-7 pages, where you show your capability to structure a 3-years research study with clear motivation, objectives, research questions, methodologies, expected results and dissemination plan. The combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies should be emphasized and motivated.
• transcripts and diplomas for bachelor's and master's degrees. If you have not completed the master's degree, you must submit a confirmation that the master's thesis has been submitted.
• a copy of the master's thesis. If you recently have submitted your master's thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed master's degree must be presented before taking up the position.
• name and address of three referees
• if you have, publications or other relevant research work

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both bachelor's and master's education, in addition to other higher education. Description of the documentation required can be found here. If you already have a statement from NOKUT, please attach this as well.

We will take joint work into account. If it is difficult to identify your efforts in the joint work, you must enclose a short description of your participation.

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience and personal and interpersonal qualities. Motivation, ambitions, and potential will also count in the assessment of the candidates.

NTNU is committed to following evaluation criteria for research quality according to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment - DORA.

General information

Working at NTNU

NTNU believes that inclusion and diversity is our strength. We want to recruit people with different competencies, educational backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to solving our social responsibilities within education and research. We will facilitate for our employees’ needs.

NTNU is working actively to increase the number of women employed in scientific positions and has a number of resources to promote equality.

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The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the innovation capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.

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As an employee at NTNU, you must at all times adhere to the changes that the development in the subject entails and the organizational changes that are adopted.

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you want to reserve yourself from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation. You will be notified if the reservation is not accepted.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Professor Erlend Alfnes, email: erlend.alfnes@ntnu.no. If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact HR consultant Hedda Winnberg, e-mail: hedda.winnberg@ntnu.no.

If you think this looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, please submit your application electronically via jobbnorge.no with your CV, diplomas and certificates attached. Applications submitted elsewhere will not be considered. Upon request, you must be able to obtain certified copies of your documentation.

Application deadline: 27.05.2024