The CAPeX Academy

The universities participating in CAPeX will educate the next Power-to-Xperts - future scientists, engineers and leaders needed for the green transformation.

Through CAPeX Academy and Fellowship programs we will provide physical and virtual education courses, modules, seminars and summer schools in P2X and digital technologies at the MSc, PhD, and postdoctoral level and facilitate staff exchanges and training courses. These educational activities will produce the next generation of researchers who will progress the green transition by continued research and development of new P2X solutions and by providing highly skilled employees to enable the transfer and utilization of knowledge of the P2X solutions developed in CAPeX to industry and the public sector.

We are dedicated to establishing a research environment that values and fosters diversity. As a participant in the VILLUM FOUNDATION and Novo Nordisk Foundation's Living Labs initiative, we actively strive to improve gender balance within our research teams. In our commitment to supporting and promoting female talent and leadership in Power2X, we will be establishing the 'Women in CAPeX' network.

See our job openings below

#Power2Xperts 

Danish podcast on CAPeX' #Power2Xperts digital skills

PhD cohort call

Join the 2024 PhD cohort of the Pioneer Center for Accelerating P2X Materials Discovery (CAPeX). We expect a number of new students to start in the spring, across the centers partner universities.

Each student will be employed at one of the Danish partner universities and have a supervisor team consisting of experts from at least two of the university partners. PhD students at CAPeX have extraordinary access to computing resources, trans-disciplinary international researchers across many disciplines within catalysis, materials and computer sciences, robotics, and other academic areas, as well as courses and events at the center, and meaningful collaboration with industry, the public sector, and the start-up ecosystem. Several of the positions are associated with our Fellowship programs with the SUNCAT center at Stanford University, The European solar fuels consortium SUNERGY at Utrecht University, or the Acceleration Consortium (AC) at University of Toronto. Fellowship PhDs are expected to spend a minimum of 6 months at the international partner university.

We value diversity within our applicant pool and encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds to submit their applications. We believe that fostering diversity in the research environment enhances creativity and encourages cross-sectoral collaboration, ultimately contributing to the successful execution of excellent research.

To apply for one or more of the positions, follow the link after the individual project description. Please note that the application deadlines vary.

Project title: Data-driven Chemistry-Aware Digital Twin modelling for Power Systems applying P2X capacity

Main supervisor: Frede Blaabjerg (AAU Energy)

Co-supervisors: Arghya Bhowmik (DTU Energy), Tejs Vegge (DTU Energy), Huai Wang (AAU Energy)

Fellowship Program: SUNERGY

Expected start date 1/3-2024

The project aim is to establish a chemistry-aware digital twin (DT) at the power system level, which is applying data driven models inclusive the P2X system. Simple voltage and current characteristics may be used to build and optimize equivalent electrical circuit based DT’s considering the effect of temperature and degradation. It will be parametrically coupled to ongoing electro-chemical reactions also enabling operational optimization for lifetime. For instance, adjusting power, voltage, frequency etc. during operation for balancing degradation. Also the impact of power converter front-end will be needed to be taken into account and the DT should cover large and small signal models as well as micro-seconds transition behavior to completely map the power system behaviour. The DT will be able to model the impact of various design variables and manufacturing process parameters on the end-system life-cycle performance, so that to guide the decision-makings in material and system design, manufacturing, and operation optimization. The DT must further be able to interface in an efficient way to Atomic-scale based digital twins and it is intended eg. to be applied on electrolyzer systems in X1 as well as the other application areas in CAPeX.

Further information may be obtained from Center co-lead and leader of the research theme: A Chemistry-Aware Digital Twin, Professor Frede Blaabjerg fbl@et.aau.dk.

Project title: End-of-Life Estimation with Power Electronics and Physics-informed ML in P2X Applications

Main Supervisor: Huai Wang (AAU Energy)

Co-supervisors: Ole Winther (DTU Compute), Arghya Bhowmik (DTU Energy)

Expected Start: 1/4-2024

This PhD project focuses on the condition monitoring and End-of-Life (EoL) estimation of power electronic components and converters. It is part of the research activities on reliability and predictive maintenance of P2X materials, components, and systems in the CAPeX project.
Two research questions need to be addressed in this PhD research:

  1. Do early wear-out features (i.e., direct or indirect health indicators) exist for the key power electronic components in P2X applications?
  2. Can we extract the underlying physical mechanism from external observables using, e.g., physics-informed explainable AI? As most known health indicators are often silent in the early phase of degradation.

The PhD project will be built upon state-of-the-art findings in power electronic components failure mechanisms and degradation testing and linked to the P2X applications with specific mission profiles and converter-level operation. It will use deterministic physical models and data-informed methods for power electronic components and converters.
The successful candidate will work closely with the Reliability of Power Electronic Converters (ReliaPEC) group at Aalborg University and material and machine learning experts at DTU.

Further information may be obtained from Professor Huai Wang hwa@energy.aau.dk.

Postdoc cohort call

Join the 2024 postdoc cohort of the Pioneer Center for Accelerating P2X Materials Discovery (CAPeX). We expect a number of new students to start in the spring, across the centers partner universities.

Each will be employed at one of the Danish partner universities and have a supervisor team consisting of experts from at least two of the university partners. Postdocs at CAPeX have extraordinary access to computing resources, trans-disciplinary international researchers across many disciplines within catalysis, materials and computer sciences, robotics, and other academic areas, as well as courses and events at the center, and meaningful collaboration with industry, the public sector, and the start-up ecosystem. Several the positions are associated with our Fellowship programs with the SUNCAT center at Stanford University, The European solar fuels consortium SUNERGY at Utrecht University, or the Acceleration Consortium (AC) at University of Toronto. Fellowship postdocs are expected to spend 6-12 months at the international partner university.

We value diversity within our applicant pool and encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds to submit their applications. We believe that fostering diversity in the research environment enhances creativity and encourages cross-sectoral collaboration, ultimately contributing to the successful execution of excellent research.

To apply for one or more of the positions, follow the link after the individual project description. Note that the application deadlines vary.

Project title: Characterization of electrode materials using operando photoemission spectroscopy

Main Supervisor: Jeppe Vang Lauritsen (Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center - INANO-Fysik, iNANO-huset)

Co-supervisor: Jakob Kibsgaard (DTU Physics)

Fellowship Programs: SUNCAT

Expected Start: 1/6-2024

In this project, the postdoc will use and develop photoelectron spectroscopy methods to characterize electrode materials in situ. The work will be coordinated in close collaboration with other CAPeX members who will provide samples and ideas for sample selection. In parallel, the project will involve characterization of the same type of electrode materials using scanning probe microscopy (SPM). Sample types will include deposited nanoparticles from CAPeX member, industrial type electrodes (metal foams) and model systems prepared in-situ by physical vapor deposition. 

Further information may be obtained from Professor Jeppe Vang Lauritsen, email: jvang@inano.au.dk

Project title: Autonomous Dual-closed-loop Synthesis of HEA/HEO Catalysts for Power2X Applications

Main Supervisor: Jinhyun Chang (DTU Energy), Tejs Vegge (DTU Energy)

Co-supervisors: Jason Hattrick-Simpers (UofT), Bert Weckhuysen (UU)

Fellowship Programs: AC and SUNERGY

Expected Start: 1/3-2024

This project focuses on the development of a dual/multiple closed-loop discovery (DCLD) process for synthesizing high entropy alloys and oxides (HEA/HEO), e.g., for the electrochemical reduction of CO2 into sustainable fuels and chemicals.

The dual loop optimization process consists of a fast inner-loop characterization and slow, yet more rigorous testing and characterization of selected samples to obtain high-fidelity data. The DCLD utilizes a surrogate model that takes both low- and high-fidelity data to determine the optimal design parameters and synthesis conditions, e.g., for spark plasma, hydrothermal, solution-based synthesis or a cluster source.

The autonomous DCLD will utilize the high-throughput synthesis robotic systems that integrates several on-the-fly and operando characterization techniques to generate multi-fidelity data, which is used to train the surrogate model. The surrogate model will guide which HEA/HEO to synthesize next based on its predicted merits (e.g., its expected catalytic activity/selectivity or uncertainty reduction of the surrogate model). The development of autonomous DCLD setup will pave the way for establishing the infrastructure for the Decentralized and Asynchronous Materials Acceleration Platform (DANMAP).

Further information may be obtained from Center leader and leader of the research theme: Materials Acceleration Platforms, Professor Tejs Vegge, email: teve@dtu.dk

Project title: A Decentralized and Asynchronous Materials Acceleration Platform for the Synthesis, Characterization and Testing of Materials for Power2X Applications

Main Supervisor: Tejs Vegge (DTU Energy), Jinhyun Chang (DTU Energy)

Co-supervisors: Jason Hattrick-Simpers (UofT), Bert Weckhuysen (UU)

Fellowship Programs: AC and SUNERGY

Expected Start: 1/3-2024

This project is part of the development of a trans-disciplinary Decentralized and AsynchroNous Materials Acceleration Platform (DANMAP) to enable accelerated closed-loop discovery of materials for Power2X applications, e.g., catalysts and supports for the electrochemical reduction of H2O, CO2, and N2.

DANMAP transcends the traditional sequential process and fully integrates a series of modules targeting a single fundamental materials property or process step goes beyond physical co-location by developing and demonstrating the first decentralized and asynchronous MAP concept, using (REST) API-based interoperable exchange and utilization of data across all process steps, domains, and scales to enable remote access orchestration and process control. These modules encompass autonomous synthesis robotics, i.e., synthesis robots that can be controlled by AI-guided decision-making strategies, computational and ML-based autonomous analysis and prediction, and experimental characterization techniques. DANMAP will also include accelerated performance and durability testing, e.g., Highly Accelerated Life Test (HALT) conditions for testing the materials and the utilization of power electronics, e.g., high voltage/current over a short period (pulsed power) and power cycling tests to enable dynamic control of the processes. A specific area of interest is the optimization and testing of CO2RR catalysts by performing autonomous experimentation using electrochemical characterization techniques such as mass spectrometry (EC-MS) under elevated temperatures or pressure.

The successful candidate will work closely with other PhD and postdoc candidates in CAPeX and colleagues at the University of Toronto and the Acceleration Consortium.

Further information may be obtained from Center leader and leader of the research theme: Materials Acceleration Platforms, Professor Tejs Vegge, email: teve@dtu.dk.