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Three PhD Positions in Industrial High-Temperature Heat Pumps at SINTEF

Project 2071 · SINTEF · SINTEF Industry: Metal Production and Processing (MPP) and Sustainable Energy Technology (BET); doctoral registration at Brunel University of London, College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences

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Country or region
Norway
Application deadline
2026-11-15 (confirm the exact time with the source)
Funding
3-year HeatMinds MSCA-DN employment, conditional on external funding. Brunel PhD admission within 3 months of contract start; organised training throughout. Salary, pension, mobility/family allowances and degree-fee arrangements unconfirmed.

The research opportunity

Three PhD Positions in Industrial High-Temperature Heat Pumps at SINTEF

HeatMinds MSCA Doctoral Network · SINTEF Industry (employer and research host) · Brunel University London (doctoral enrolment)

Project and doctoral work

HeatMinds studies how industrial high-temperature heat pumps (IHTHPs) can support industrial decarbonisation at both system and component levels, considering sustainability, economic and social impacts, and energy policy. Applicants select one of three related but distinct topics:

  1. Industrial energy flows and decarbonisation: map industrial energy flows and waste heat, integrate IHTHPs with low-carbon technologies, and develop decision-support databases for system design and sustainability assessment.
  2. Digital twins: develop and validate modular frameworks for predictive modelling, integration and optimisation of IHTHPs in high-temperature processes, supporting factory-wide energy management.
  3. Grid integration and sector coupling: combine IHTHPs, renewable energy and thermal storage to improve grid flexibility and enable scalable low-carbon industrial heat.

The selected PhD may involve modelling, validation, decision support, stakeholder and business-case work, techno-economic assessment and industrial adoption. Candidates do not cover all three topics or every consortium experiment. The specific industrial cases, software, data and validation facilities remain to be agreed. Doctoral duties include publications and dissemination, partner collaboration and secondments, conferences and training, and participation in SINTEF’s Casting, Forming and Recycling and Solar Energy and Materials groups. The individual secondment location, duration and travel support are unspecified.

SINTEF Industry’s Metal Production and Processing (MPP) and Sustainable Energy Technology (BET) departments provide the Norwegian research setting, mainly in Trondheim. Brunel provides doctoral enrolment; this is not a SINTEF degree or confirmation of a joint/double degree. The exact Brunel programme and named academic supervisor remain to be confirmed.

Applicant requirements

Applicants need a relevant Master’s degree in materials, mechanical, energy, process, chemical or industrial engineering, sustainable energy systems, industrial ecology, technology or engineering management, systems engineering, industrial digitalisation or a similar field. The degree must be completed and documented before 1 January 2027. The academic criterion is grade B or better, or demonstrated research potential. Strong English, independent and systematic research, initiative, collaboration and clear communication are expected.

Experience in energy systems, modelling, data analytics, decision support, digitalisation, industrial management, innovation, technology transfer or industrial transformation is an advantage; applicants need not have every listed skill. English must meet one of these thresholds: IELTS 6.5 with at least 6.0 in each component; PTE Academic at least 59 in each subscore; BrunELT 6.5 with at least 6.0 in each component; or TOEFL iBT 5.0 with at least 4.5 in each subscore. Do not convert the TOEFL score to an older scale; Brunel decides any documentary exception.

MSCA candidates may be of any nationality and must not hold a doctorate at recruitment. The Norway mobility rule allows no more than 12 months in Norway during the 36 months immediately before employment. SINTEF and Brunel also conduct individual export-control reviews; this is not a blanket nationality exclusion.

Application

The stated deadline is 15 November 2026. The employer lists the date only; an earlier notice gives 23:59 Europe/Oslo, which is not confirmed as the portal cutoff. Current application status has not been checked. Check the status and cutoff with the employer before applying.

Apply through the SINTEF vacancy page. Submit all documents in English: a motivation letter of up to one page, CV, Bachelor’s and Master’s diplomas and transcripts, a Master’s thesis or recent draft, and the names and contact details of two referees. State the preferred topic. Incomplete applications will not be considered. SINTEF does not request a separate research proposal in its listed documents; Brunel may require research materials later.

Contract and funding

The individual appointment is for three years and depends on external funding being secured. The four-year HeatMinds network period does not extend the individual contract. Brunel PhD admission is required within three months of the contract start, with organised doctoral training throughout; the employer also requires daily physical presence at the institution. A specific start date is not stated.

Gross and net salary, pension, mobility and family allowances are unpublished. MSCA guidance says the employer should cover doctoral registration and tuition through the network’s Research, Training and Networking contribution, but the SINTEF–Brunel payment arrangement and any extension or completion costs need written confirmation. Confirm external-funding approval and the contract, salary, benefits and fee arrangements before accepting.

Recruitment contacts

Topics 1 and 3

  • Morten Ingar Onsøien, Research Manager, MPP — Morten.I.Onsoien@sintef.no · +47 92458466
  • Sarina Bao, Senior Research Scientist, MPP — sarina.bao@sintef.no · +47 93003325

Topics 2 and 3

  • Gaute Stokkan, Research Manager, BET — gaute.stokkan@sintef.no · +47 41559851
  • Eivind Johannes Øvrelid, Senior Research Scientist, BET — EivindJohannes.Ovrelid@sintef.no · +47 98230449

These are advertised recruitment contacts, not confirmed supervisors for every candidate. Confirm the day-to-day modelling lead, industrial cases, data and validation access, supervision, and secondment arrangements.

Research and application brief

Report generated: . This date does not confirm that recruitment remains open.

Information updated: . Recheck the original notice before applying.

Show report contents

Three PhD Positions in Industrial High-Temperature Heat Pumps at SINTEF

Quick Decision

How can industrial high-temperature heat pumps contribute to decarbonisation beyond the efficiency of an individual component? These three SINTEF Industry doctorates approach that question through industrial energy-flow pathways, predictive digital twins, and grid integration with storage. Applicants choose one topic; the positions do not require every researcher to complete all three projects.

SINTEF provides Norwegian research employment, while doctoral enrolment is at Brunel University of London. The opportunity information states three years of employment conditional on external funding, admission within three months of contract start, and a 15 November 2026 application date. A separate recruitment notice gives 23:59 Europe/Oslo, a cutoff that still needs confirmation. MSCA nationality and mobility conditions and individual export-control review apply. Registration/tuition protection is stated in European Commission MSCA-DN fellows guidance, but local salary and the SINTEF–Brunel payment agreement still need confirmation.

Research Questions and Doctoral Work

These are three distinct industrial high-temperature heat-pump (IHTHP) systems doctorates, not materials-synthesis projects. Each applicant should state a preferred SINTEF topic. The advert combines engineering analysis with decision support, stakeholder engagement, business-case development, techno-economic assessment, innovation management and industrial adoption; it does not require each researcher to perform all consortium experiments. SINTEF three-position recruitment information.

Topic Advertised doctoral work Main analytical challenge
1: Industrial energy flows and decarbonisation pathways Map heat/energy flows, integrate IHTHPs with low-carbon options, and develop decision-support databases for system design and sustainability Choose a defensible whole-site baseline and pathway rather than optimising an isolated component
2: Digital-twin frameworks Develop and validate modular predictive models for IHTHP integration/optimisation in high-temperature industrial processes, contributing to factory-wide digital energy management Distinguish model prediction from validated operational decisions; address interfaces, data quality and transfer
3: Grid integration and sector coupling Combine IHTHPs, renewables and thermal storage to improve flexibility and scalable industrial heat electrification Balance process heat requirements, grid constraints, storage and economic/carbon conditions

These are connected but different thesis questions. Possible useful outputs are a validated integration model/database, digital-twin framework or grid-coupling pathway assessment, depending on the selected topic. Exact industrial cases, software, sample/data size and validation rigs are unpublished. Actual duties include papers/dissemination, partner collaboration and secondments, conferences/workshops/training, completion of doctoral education, active participation in the Casting, Forming and Recycling and Solar Energy and Materials groups, and adjusting focus as research develops.

The HPT TCP Annex 58 September 2024 summary reviews 34 technologies at TRL 4–9 and 15 demonstration cases. Existing solutions and immature concepts coexist; this is not a uniform market-ready technology. Its integration analysis stresses process-specific heat demands and economic conditions. The separate 2024 strategy guide links goal setting, reference-site analysis, concept evaluation and a transition roadmap, and distinguishes direct Scope 1 emissions from purchased-electricity Scope 2. These support whole-system benchmarking and explain why an attractive heat-pump COP alone does not prove factory decarbonisation. They are field context, not this thesis's contracted performance targets. Technical synthesis; Industrial transition strategy.

School, Degree and Training Context

SINTEF Industry is the employer/research host, with Metal Production and Processing, MPP, and Sustainable Energy Technology, BET, in Trondheim, Norway; the advert also names Nordland secondment partners. Brunel University of London, College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences, is the doctoral enrolment institution, with supervisors at both organisations. This does not establish a SINTEF degree, a Norwegian-university registration or a joint/double award. The exact Brunel programme title, off-campus arrangement and named academic director remain to be confirmed. Employer and registration roles.

CORDIS confirms HeatMinds 101312140, coordinated by Brunel in the United Kingdom, signed 10 June 2026, running 1 October 2026–30 September 2030, with 15 doctoral candidates and €4,961,696.04 EU contribution. The employer describes six partners and 12 associated partners. The network's four-year dates and total grant are not each candidate's contract duration or salary; these SINTEF posts explicitly last three years. Official grant identity and scale.

Brunel's generic Mechanical Engineering PhD provides a useful adjacent example: three-year full-time or six-year part-time study, an interview with at least two academics and a research statement. It is not independently confirmed as the exact registration route for all three posts, and its ordinary January/April/October intakes do not set this vacancy's start date. The employer requires PhD admission within three months of contract start, continued organised training, and daily physical availability. Network mentoring, interdisciplinary training and industrial secondments supplement the doctorate; the individual timetable, Brunel residence/visits and coursework are unpublished. Illustrative university doctoral environment.

Brunel's published REF2021 Engineering, UoA12, reports 81% world-leading/internationally excellent research: 17% four-star plus 64% three-star, 152.8 FTE. This broad historical engineering unit includes multiple disciplines; it is not a ranking of SINTEF, the HeatMinds group or these supervisors. SINTEF's industrial research context and the quality of actual supervision/data access matter more directly. Relevant subject assessment and scope.

Contacts, Recent Papers and Resources

Topics 1 and 3 name Morten Ingar Onsøien, Research Manager, MPP, and Sarina Bao, Senior Research Scientist, MPP. Onsøien's profile centres on casting/forming, recycling and industrial materials collaboration; Bao's includes metallurgy, recycling and the StreamSTEP 2024–2028 project. Contacts are Morten.I.Onsoien@sintef.no, +47 92458466 and sarina.bao@sintef.no, +47 93003325. Onsøien SINTEF profile; Bao SINTEF profile.

Topics 2 and 3 name Gaute Stokkan, Research Manager, BET, and Eivind Johannes Øvrelid, Senior Research Scientist, BET. Stokkan has a 2004 NTNU materials PhD, solar-silicon characterisation and newer energy-system interests; Øvrelid's work includes silicon/crystallisation and industrial materials processes. Contacts are gaute.stokkan@sintef.no, +47 41559851 and eivindjohannes.ovrelid@sintef.no, +47 98230449. These are advertised contact groupings, not a final allocation of all four supervisors to every student. The named Brunel supervisor and day-to-day IHTHP/modelling specialist were not identified. Stokkan SINTEF profile; Øvrelid SINTEF profile.

Three recent primary studies involving named contacts provide adjacent evidence, with different degrees of relevance to the three IHTHP topics:

  • Bao, Eggen, Syvertsen and Kvithyld, JOM 75:5755–5763, 25 October 2023, evaluates aluminium-packaging recycling across collection systems, showing why collection, processing, yield and quality must be assessed together. It supports industrial system-boundary reasoning but is materials recycling, not an IHTHP trial. This summary draws on the publisher's full-text evidence. Industrial recycling primary study
  • Dimd, Stokkan and Juel, Renewable Energy 271:1–10, 2026, combines simulation and empirical Arctic PV evidence to examine Longyearbyen's transition, including climatic/seasonal constraints and complementary wind/PV/storage. It is closer to topic 3's system-integration question, but Arctic supply planning is not proof of validated industrial heat-pump control. The institutional abstract describes the study's scope. 2026 integrated-energy primary study
  • Matkivskyi and collaborators including Stokkan, MethodsX 10:102105, 7 March 2023, combines white-light interferometry and Laue mapping for silicon surface/crystallinity analysis. It demonstrates measurement/characterisation expertise, with indirect relevance to the present systems topics; it is not a digital-twin or heat-pump performance study. This summary is limited to the primary abstract. Materials-method primary study

These studies do not amount to three directly matched HTHP publications. Ask for the most relevant modelling/integration outputs of the actual allocated SINTEF/Brunel supervisors. SINTEF's solar/system resource page lists the Trondheim Smart Grid Laboratory and HyOpt/Integrate tools, showing a wider energy-system environment. Their existence does not promise licence, technical support, a specific heat-pump rig or direct access for these posts. Industrial cases, data sharing, IP/publication constraints, supervisor workloads and joint meetings need explicit agreement. Institutional system resources and tool scope.

Funding, Fees and Living Cost

The official vacancy states three years funded through HeatMinds MSCA-DN, but also that employment is conditional on external funding. Gross salary, net pay, pension terms and mobility/family payment amounts are not published. Do not copy another Norwegian university's NOK 580,000 salary or equate the consortium grant with the individual's income. MSCA guidance sets out living/mobility and, where applicable, family/leave/special-needs support, separately from institutional research/training costs; obtain the local salary breakdown and funding confirmation. MSCA funding categories.

There is meaningful fee protection: the Commission's DN fellows information, Version 2 June 2024, §6.2, states doctoral registration/tuition costs must be charged to the employer's Research, Training and Networking contribution and must not be charged to the researcher. The actual SINTEF–Brunel contract should implement this, including overseas tuition and any finishing period. Thus an unconfirmed administrative arrangement is not evidence of an existing international fee gap. Official doctoral fee rule.

For comparison only, Brunel's ordinary 2026/27 Mechanical Engineering PhD lists £24,795 international/£5,238 Home per full-time year, while its general fee framework normally charges each of three PhD years and lists £225 writing-up and £345 re-examination fees. These are generic examples, not this MSCA candidate's bill or confirmed programme. Ask which incidental/extension costs are covered instead of subtracting the ordinary tuition figure from an unknown salary. Ordinary programme price context; Generic fee framework.

Statistics Norway's 2025 Trondheim survey gives NOK 11,850/month for a two-room dwelling and NOK 14,430 for three rooms, with one-room figures unpublished. These are weighted averages of surveyed tenancies, not 2027 rent or guaranteed student accommodation. Room counts include living rooms but exclude kitchens/bathrooms; the averages do not uniformly remove electricity/heating. An analytical single-person scenario is NOK 19,500–23,500/month, or NOK 234,000–282,000 for twelve months, combining the two-room benchmark with an assumed NOK 7,650–11,650 non-rent allowance for food, utilities actually excluded from the tenancy, transport and reserves. Check whether electricity/heating is already included to avoid double counting. The assumed range is not official measured spending; deposit, relocation and secondment cash are additional. No defensible saving/net-pay margin can be calculated without the salary. Trondheim rental evidence; SSB table 09895.

Norway's national 2026/27 student benchmark, NOK 15,488/month or NOK 170,368 for 11 months, would be NOK 185,856 for 12 months at the same monthly rate. It is a student baseline rather than a SINTEF-employee budget, and it does not establish welfare-housing eligibility or determine fees for a British degree. Confirm Nordland/other secondment travel, lodging and double-rent support, any required UK visits, and the appropriate Norwegian/UK entry arrangements with HR. National benchmark and its limits.

Eligibility and Application

MSCA candidates may be of any nationality, including Chinese, but must not hold a doctorate at recruitment. For these Norwegian posts, they must not have lived, worked or studied in Norway for more than 12 months in the 36 months before employment. The reference point is actual recruitment/start, not application or grant signature. The official information note says the rule concerns first recruitment within the project, not subsequent secondments, and residence/main activity rather than nationality. Separately, the employer applies individual knowledge/technology/service export-control assessment for both SINTEF and Brunel; incompatible candidates cannot be employed, but no blanket Chinese ban is stated. Nationality and mobility rules; First-recruitment interpretation; Referenced export-control authority.

The required relevant master's must be completed and documented before 1 January 2027. Fields include materials, mechanical, energy, process/chemical/industrial engineering, sustainable systems, industrial ecology, technology/engineering management, systems engineering and industrial digitalisation, or similar. The academic criterion is B or better, or demonstrated research potential; do not delete the alternative. Strong English and systematic, independent, collaborative work are expected. Energy-flow/process-integration/techno-economic modelling, industrial waste heat, HTHP integration, decision-support/data analytics, commercialisation and transformation/management experience are advantages, not an obligation to possess every item.

The exact English choices are IELTS 6.5 with every component 6.0; PTE Academic 59 with every subscore 59; BrunELT 6.5 with every component 6.0; or TOEFL iBT 5.0 with every subscore 4.5. Brunel's English-language policy gives these score scales; do not replace the new TOEFL scale with an unverified old-scale conversion or assume a Chinese English-taught master's automatically waives proof. University documentary exceptions remain admissions decisions. Brunel English policy.

Apply using the employer's linked recruitment portal by 15 November 2026; the supplied notice gives 23:59 Europe/Oslo, while the employer page itself gives the date only. Include maximum one-page motivation letter, CV, bachelor/master diplomas and transcripts, master's thesis or recently submitted draft, and two referees' names/contact details, all in English. State which of the three topics is preferred; missing required documents are not considered. No separate research proposal is requested in the SINTEF list. Brunel's later academic admission may require research documentation, so employment selection does not remove the three-month admission condition.

Useful preparation is a topic-specific model or industrial-analysis example explaining system boundaries, data uncertainty, validation and decisions. For topic 1, show energy-flow/techno-economic reasoning; topic 2, modular software and validation; topic 3, renewable/storage/grid tradeoffs. This is suggested evidence preparation, not an invented requirement to arrive with a deployed industrial twin.

Career Directions

Training can support industrial-energy research, process integration, digital energy management and decarbonisation consulting. Topic 1 develops whole-system boundary and pathway reasoning; topic 2 emphasises model interfaces, data and validation; topic 3 examines renewable-energy, storage and grid trade-offs. Business cases and stakeholder communication also connect the research to industrial transformation and technology adoption.

The IEA 2025 report describes about 76 million energy jobs in 2024 and 2.2% growth, alongside technical-skills bottlenecks and market uncertainty. These are sector-wide figures, not demand for the three graduates or a project placement/salary forecast. An international industrial secondment provides experience, not an employment or future work-permit guarantee. Workforce context.

Next Actions and Questions

Before applying: select the topic explicitly, check the master's completion date and 12/36 Norway history, and contact the relevant pair about first-year scope. Request local salary/funding confirmation and how the no-researcher-tuition rule will be implemented. Confirm Chinese degree/English evidence and submit all English documents before 15 November; do not use the consortium's four-year grant dates as employment dates.

At interview: identify the named Brunel academic supervisor, actual HTHP/modelling specialist and supervisory capacity. Ask which industrial case, data and validation facilities are committed; clarify modular-model interfaces, reference scenarios, publication/IP permissions, Nordland/international secondment timetable, business-case responsibilities and a fallback if industrial data are delayed.

Before accepting: obtain the three-year funded contract, gross/net salary and allowance/pension breakdown, Brunel programme/admission within three months, tuition/registration payment arrangements and finishing-period costs. Confirm required physical attendance, travel/double accommodation, individual export-control/entry decisions and realistic housing. The scientific/industrial case supports retaining this opportunity; unresolved local remuneration and administrative arrangements need answers, not an invented fee shortfall or nationality exclusion.

Evidence and Sources

The project information is dated 21 October 2026; that date does not establish whether applications remain open. The recycling study is discussed from full-text evidence, while the Arctic-energy and silicon-method studies are discussed within the scope of their abstracts. Salary and individual admission arrangements remain to be confirmed.

Recruitment, degree and funding

Contacts, primary papers and resources

Field, cost and career

Sources

The listing may come from a university or recruitment platform. Check the notice and official sources in the report for current application requirements. View the recruitment source

Explore opportunities with related research or the same country, prioritising similar funding where relevant. Recheck each notice before applying.

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