Call for applications for PhD studies at the African Center of Excellence in
Energy for Sustainable Development (ACE-ESD) under the UR-Sweden
Research Training Partnership Programme 2019-2024 on Sustainable Energy
Background
The African Center of Excellence in Energy for Sustainable Development (ACEESD), at the College of Science and Technology (CST), University of Rwanda (UR), is funded by the World Bank and an approved ACE II project center of excellence envisioned to address key economic challenges resulting from low rural energy access, poor adoption of energy technologies in rural areas, and poor inter-state energy trading in the Eastern and Southern Africa region. The ACE-ESD is partnering with three Swedish universities in a new five-year Research Training Program (2019-2024) funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) aiming to strengthen research capacity on Sustainable Energy. The Swedish partners are Chalmers University of Technology, Jonkoping International Business School and School of Global Studies, University of Gothenburg.
Program description
Five PhD students will be enrolled for a PhD by Research degree at UR, with a total visit of 9 months in Sweden, where they are enrolled for a Licentiate Degree. The students will thus earn a Ph.D. degree in Rwanda as well as a Licentiate degree from Sweden, which is a valued degree among Swedish engineers and industry. Students will be able to take courses in Sweden and be supervised jointly by Swedish and UR senior staff.
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The partnership program is focused on interdisciplinary and policy-relevant energy research on the theme: Smart electrification for rural development using locally available renewable energy resources appropriate to Rwanda.
The program investigates Rwanda’s future energy system, exploring the interaction between energy demand and energy system design. The PhD students will work on the shared overall research question: what is the role of micro-grids in Rwanda’s future energy system? Candidates are invited to submit their applications according to the sub-theme and process described below.
Studies are expected to start in January 2020 and last 4 years.
We invite candidates for conducting a PhD on one of the following five sub-themes:
- the role of bioenergy for rural development in Rwanda’s future energy system
- the role of solar power for rural development in Rwanda’s future energy system
- mini-grids combining different supplies — hydro and solar power
- the role of policy and finance for energy development in Rwanda
- social and environmental impacts of electrification for rural development
The program will contribute to addressing real-world problems of importance to Rwanda’s development challenges and developing appropriate local solutions, establishing a link between researchers and energy sector actors that is now missing. There is an emphasjs oY problem-oriented research, energy systems design (rather than improvements of specific materials or components), field studies and stakeholder interactions. The PhD student working on Policy and finance will work with Jonkoping International Business School. The other four students will work with Chalmers University of Technology.