Brilliant and strongly motivated candidates are sought exhibiting a general attitude suited to research, i.e. being intellectually curious, eager to explore and learn, capable of critical thinking, open to innovation, able to cleverly use their skills to address unknown problems, not scared about complexity.

A solid technical/scientific background will be required with adequate competences in power converters, electric machines and electrical drives, or at least in power circuits, low-frequency electromagnetics and related applications, whereas good competences in cooling systems, structural and applied mechanics, control systems, electronics, applied informatics will be highly valued.

Any further specific skills useful for researching in the field of electric machines, power electronics and electrical drives will be also highly valued: for example, CAD and FEM software for electromagnetic, thermal and structural design and analysis of electric machines; circuit simulators and PCB design software for analysing and prototyping of power converters and signal electronic circuits; high-level general-purpose simulation tools for analysing and designing control systems for electrical drives; programming languages and IDE for real-time control using microcontrollers, DSPs and FPGAs; prototyping of electric machines and power converters, including practical skills related to soldering, coil winding etc.; selecting and using lab instrumentation for measurements of electrical, thermal and mechanical quantities; etc.

The ability to analyze and solve complex problems using suited analytical models and mathematical tools using a clever and creative approach, especially in the above fields, will be also highly appreciated.

Since the MSCA positions are particularly intended to increase students mobility and facilitate international cooperation and mutual knowledge and exchange, a good teamwork attitude, with an open mind keen to interact positively with people from different cultures and backgrounds, will be also required.

Candidates will be considered eligible to participate in the selection process provided that they meet the following minimal prerequisites:

• having earned at least a two-years Master Degree (120 ECTS points), or an equivalent graduate degree, in Electrical Engineering (power) or related disciplines, by the deadline for submission of applications to this position;
• not having already received a PhD or equivalent degree by any institution;
• not having being resident in Italy, and not having carried out there their main activity (work, studies, etc.), for more than 12 months overall in the 36 months preceding the recruitment;
• being sufficiently proficient in English (a minimum of B2 level or equivalent is desirable) and agreeing to use such language both for work and for any other official matter, including the selection process;
• agreeing to accept the position in case they are selected;
• agreeing to undertake the PhD training programme associated to this position, in case they are selected; 
• agreeing to move to Pisa area (Italy) for the duration of the contract, in case they are selected.

The positions funded by the EU via MSCA Doctoral Networks are very prestigious and strongly oriented towards excellence in training and research, to be achieved also thanks to international collaboration and mobility.

In fact, the activities will be supervised by a pool of expert academic tutors and will also involve international collaborations both with academic institutions and, possibly, with relevant industrial partners.

In particular, for the offered PhD position the academic partnership will be with the world renowned Power Electronics group of Aalborg University, Denmark.

Moreover, the HIPO Consortium will organize several events permitting the Doctoral Students to meet and participate in dedicated training courses. 

Attendance to international conferences and collaboration in academic and applied research activities will be also encouraged, as well as drafting scientific papers to be published also in renowned journals.

On the other hand, the positions funded by EU via MSCA Doctoral Networks also benefit of a generous salary and applicable allowances, making them among the best paid opportunities available to post-graduates in the academia.

For the position presently offered, the gross amount of monthly income will be roughly around 3'500 € before taxes and health insurance, including living allowance, mobility allowance; such amount do not include the employer’s social contributions that will be paid by the University of Pisa and the family allowance, when applicable.

For more detailed information, please refer to the pertinent EU-MSCA rules and Italian regulations.

Moreover, no tuition fees will be charged by the University of Pisa for the participation in this PhD training programme.

The selected candidate will be also able to access all of the facilities made available for students, including canteens offering meals at moderate prices etc.

Therefore, the open position represent an excellent opportunity for brilliant and strongly motivated candidates to earn the top academic degree from a prestigious University while receiving a generous salary, achieving a remarkable professional growth and gaining a significant experience in the typical activities related to modern research.

This position is open to all qualified applicants independently on nationality, age, gender, religion etc.; candidates from groups that have been often under-represented at the hosting institution, such as women and non-Italian people, are very welcome to apply.

Applications which do not meet the minimal prerequisites listed in the Specific Requirements section, or which are not submitted according to the procedure specified in the Offer Description section, or which are received after the submission deadline has expired, will be rejected.

The selection will be carried out in compliance with the general rules for MSCA projects and will be based just on individual merit.

The selection process will be entirely carried out in English.

A Selection Committee consisting of 3 members and 1 observer was appointed by the HIPO Consortium for the purpose:

• Prof. Paolo Bolognesi, University of Pisa, Italy (member)
• Prof. Luca Papini, University of Pisa, Italy (member)
• Prof. Pia Lindh, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland (member representing the Consortium in her capacity as Coordinator of the HIPO Project)
• Prof. Frede Blaabjerg, Aalborg University, Denmark (observer)

The selection process will consist in the assessment on paper of qualifications and activities eventually followed by a thorough individual interview.

In the assessment on paper the following aspects will be duly examined:

• submission of mandatory documents and declarations; any application missing compulsory elements will be rejected;
• pertinence of the degrees received, reputation of the granting institutions, marks achieved, other educational acknowledgements;
• competences and skills;
• professional experience and projects developed;
• prizes received and other achievements;
• contents of the recommendation letters and reputation of the recommenders;
• relevance of the scientific publications listed and reputation of the hosting conference/journal/editor;
• quality level and innovation potential of the publications attached, and presumable contribution of the candidate;
• other particularly relevant aspects highlighted by the candidate.

Each candidate will be assigned a first score up to 40 points ensuing from the above assessment; the applications that will get less than 20 points will be dropped.

All of the applicants will be informed about the outcome of the first stage of the selection process.

The applicants who pass the first selection stage will be then invited to an individual on-line interview  via a suited platform, consisting in a self-introduction of the candidate using a slide presentation followed by a thorough discussion aimed to assess the actual competence, capability and potential for the position.

The following aspects will be duly examined for the assessment of the interview:

• technical quality of the presentation;
• ability to elaborate in real time and to respond appropriately to technical questions, including critical thinking;
• in-depth knowledge and understanding of key technical topics in the fields of interest for the position;
• innovativeness and soundness of the technical solutions eventually proposed;
• individual motivation for applying to this specific position;
• eagerness to fully exploit the opportunities offered by this position in the framework of the MSCA programme;
• teamwork attitude, including positive interaction with supervisors and colleagues from different backgrounds and cultures;
• speech and interaction ability, including fluency in English.

Each candidate participating in the interview will receive a second score up to 50 points based on its outcome.

The applications of those candidates who will not show-up at the planned interview, or who will receive less than 25 points in the related assessment, will be dropped.

All of the candidates admitted to the interview will be informed about the outcome of the second stage of the selection process.

The final ranking will include only the candidates who passed both stages of the selection process and will be formed according to the sum of the 2 scores achieved by each of them.

The position at stake will then be granted to the highest scored applicant who will factually accept it by signing the related contract after having properly dealt with all of the preliminary steps eventually necessary, including Visa etc.

The eligible candidates will be sequentially inquired to such purpose according to the order defined by the final ranking.

About the University of Pisa

The University of Pisa is one of the most ancient and prestigious in Europe: in fact, it is active since 1343.

Nowadays, it boasts:

• 20 large Departments, covering a broad spectrum of disciplines;
• 58 first-level (Bachelor) degree courses;
• 67 second-level (Master) degree courses;
• 8 long degree (single-cycle Master) courses;
• 20 PhD courses;
• 47 third-level specialization programmes;
• 62 1-year specialization programmes.

The academic staff includes more than 1'400 professors and researchers supported by about 1'500 employees; the University gathers more than 50'000 students, many of which from other Italian regions and from abroad.

In 2013 the University of Pisa obtained the ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) label and the ECHE (Erasmus Charter for Higher Education) label.

Further information

For any further information or clarification concerning this position, feel free to inquire:

• Prof. Paolo Bolognesi:  e-mail paolo.bolognesi@ing.unipi.it , tel. +39-050-2217309
• Prof. Luca Papini:  e-mail luca.papini@ing.unipi.it , tel. +39-050-2217342