Research Assistant position in Intelligent Reversible CO2 Heat Pumps at SDU Sønderborg

The Faculty of Engineering of the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) invites applications for a 1-year Research Assistant position in the area of sustainable cooling and heating technologies. The candidate will be offered the exciting opportunity to make reversible CO₂ heat pumps “intelligent”. All the activities will be carried out within the ULTRA project in close collaboration with relevant Danish industrial partners. The position is available from May 1, 2025.

The application deadline is March 7, 2025, at 11.59 PM/23.59 (CET/CEST)

Unique opportunity

The SDU Cooling and Heating Research Group is an investigation unit at the Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering (IME). IME is continuously building up a Mechanical Engineering degree and laboratories to support the educational activities as well as its research and commercial activities. Therefore, the candidate will have the unique opportunity to influence the further development of both the research group and IME. 

Workplace description

IME covers innovation, research and education spanning from fundamentals to applications of engineering science. All our courses are taught in English reflecting the fact that more than half our students and staff are internationals. The Cooling and Heating Research Group is located at SDU's beautiful campus in Sønderborg, in the inspiring building of Alsion, which is a centre for science, culture and learning in the heart of Sønderborg and perched on the strait of water separating the island of Als from the mainland. The university has very close relations to the industry in Sønderborg, Southern Denmark and Northern Germany, among others. A significant fraction of the projects in the centre are conducted in close cooperation with the industry, which count world leading companies in crucial fields, such as e-mobility and energy efficiency.

Research project in which the successful candidate will be involved 

The ULTRA project aims at making reversible CO₂ heat pumps “intelligent”, i.e. being capable of performing with very high efficiency all year round thanks to their advanced control system, through:

• the demonstration of a dedicated control algorithm for ejector-equipped reversible CO₂ heat pumps
• the demonstration of an energy optimizing algorithm to guarantee that reversible CO₂ heat pumps operate efficiently all year around
• the demonstration of a control algorithm to optimize the maintenance schedule and thus further reduce their energy consumption

The three aforementioned algorithms will target from small domestic reversible heat pumps to large scale heat pumps for industrial and district heating/cooling applications. 

All the tasks involved in the ULTRA project will be conducted in close collaboration with AIT Varmepumper ApS and Bitzer Electronics A/S. The ULTRA project has received funding from Fonden for Retfærdig Omstilling.

Job description

The successful candidate will:

• carry out the technical, dissemination and management activities related to the ULTRA project
• be able to be involved in the daily supervision of Master and Bachelor students working on similar scientific topics
• publish their work in scientific journals with high impact
• be able to assist in teaching activities
• be engaged in funding applications.

Profile and requirements

The successful candidate should have:

• a BSc and MSc Degree in Mechanical (or Control or Energy or Mechatronics or Electrical or similar) Engineering
• strong background in Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer, Control Engineering and Energy Conversion Systems
• experience in implementing advanced simulation models of energy systems (preferably of vapour-compression heat pumps) by using Simscape and/or Simulink and/or OpenModelica and/or Dymola/Modelica
• experience in experimental activities 
• great capacities to work both in team and independently
• strong communication skills in English, both spoken and written

Contact information

For further information, please visit www.sdu.dk/ime and contact Associate Professor Lars Duggen, (Head of Centre for Industrial Mechanics, tel. +45 65501640, e-mail: [email protected]) or Associate Professor Paride Gullo (tel. +45 65507314, email: [email protected]).

If you experience technical problems, please contact [email protected]. 

Application procedure

Applicants are advised to read the SDU information on how to apply and specific faculty information for application at the Faculty of Engineering.

Assessment of the candidates is based on the application material. You must include the following documents in English: 

• a letter stating the interest, motivation and qualifications for the ULTRA project (max. 2 pages)
• a detailed Curriculum Vitae, including personal contact information, describing research, along with any other relevant information, e.g. teaching experience, computational skills, experimental experience, etc.
• a complete list of publications (if any)
• verified copies of the official Bachelor diploma and Master's diploma and transcripts of exams, both the original documents and in professional English translation
• an official document describing the grading scheme of the awarding universities (if not Danish)
• References (names and emails) and/or reference letters may also be included. 

UPLOAD GUIDE: Motivated application shall be uploaded as ‘Cover letter’, Curriculum Vitae shall be uploaded as ‘Resume’. All other documents shall be uploaded as ‘Miscellaneous documents’. 

Documents must not contain a CPR number (civil registration number) – in this case, the CPR number must be crossed out.

The application and CV must not exceed 10 MB. 

The application deadline is March 7, 2025, at 11.59 PM/23.59 (CET/CEST)

Assessment and selection process

Read about the Assessment and selection process. 

Applications will be assessed by an assessment committee or an expert. Shortlisting may be applied. Only shortlisted candidates will receive a written assessment. Read about shortlisting at SDU. 

Interviews and tests may be part of the process.

Conditions of employment
Appointment as a research assistant is temporary and for an initial 1-year period. Extension may be possible depending on available funding. 

 The preferred stating date is May 1, 2025. 

Employment as research assistant requires educational qualifications at minimum master’s level (equivalent to a Danish master’s degree) at the time of employment. 

The person employed in the position may, based on a specific individual managerial assessment, be exempted from time registration, also known as a self-organiser. 

The successful applicant will be employed in accordance with the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Further information on salary and taxation.

The University of Southern Denmark wishes to reflect the surrounding community and therefore encourages everyone, regardless of personal background, to apply for the position. SDU conducts research in critical technologies, which, due to the risk of unwanted knowledge transfer, are subject to a number of security measures. Therefore, based on information from open sources, background checks may be conducted on candidates for the position.

Further information for international applicants about entering and working in Denmark. You may also visit WorkinDenmark for additional information.

Further information about The Faculty of Engineering.