Studentship overview

  • Degree level

    Postgraduate doctoral

  • Value

    Includes a tax-free stipend of approximately £22,780 per year for 3.5 years, Home-level tuition fees, and support for research expenses and travel to collaborators and conferences.

  • Number of awards

    1

  • Academic year

    2026/2027

  • Tuition fee status

    Home, Overseas

  • Mode of study

    Full time

  • Available to

    Prospective students

  • Application deadline

    30/09/2025 Closed

  • Additional information

    Scholarship page

    eee.pgadmissions@imperial.ac.uk

  • Available to applicants in the following departments

    • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Eligibility criteria

Summary of Project:

Power systems are at the core of the transition to net-zero energy systems, and they have to transform in two ways.  First, their generation mix will include clean energy resources, mostly variable renewable energy resources, and nuclear. Second, the electricity demand is expected to double to accommodate newly electrified energy uses such as transportation and heating. These two transformations create a need for sophisticated planning methods and processes that result in actionable plans by proactively considering high-impact forces such as stakeholder preferences and supply chain issues.

 

The successful applicant will join the research group of Dr Elina Spyrou, which currently has three PhD students and a postdoctoral researcher. The group is actively contributing to the Electric Power Innovation for a Carbon-free Society Center (EPICS) and is closely collaborating with partners in the UK, USA, and Australia.

 

Duties and responsibilities

The responsibilities include defining, with support from the supervisor, the research questions, creating and managing a plan for the PhD, reviewing the relevant literature, conducting independent research, reporting progress, disseminating results in high-impact refereed journals and conferences. The successful candidate will be based at Imperial, but they will also participate in activities of the Global Energy Center.

 

Essential Requirements:

Applicants should have a good first degree or a Master’s degree (or other equivalent experience). Suitable backgrounds for these PhD positions include, but are not limited to, power engineering, industrial engineering and operations research, mathematics, computing, and energy economics. The successful candidate will have an excellent understanding in one of the following fields: power system operations, power system economics, linear programming, micro-economics. Experience in working with datasets and prior coursework in probability theory and statistics will be helpful, but not necessary to apply for the position.

Please note: This studentship is not available to continuing students.

Course specific information

This PhD project is based in the Control and Power Research Group, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. 

 

It focuses on developing sophisticated planning methods for future power systems, considering clean energy integration, increased electricity demand, stakeholder preferences, and supply chain challenges.

Application process

Please choose Electrical and Electronic Engineering Research Program and Control and Power Group, then indicate Dr Elina Spyrou as a potential supervisor when making the application.

 

The application should include a cover letter (maximum 2 pages) and your CV (maximum 2 pages). Please make sure that your cover letter and CV provide adequate information on your academic ability, research potential, communication and engagement skills, your interest in the research topic, and future career plans.

 

Full guidance on the application process is available here.

 

Early applications are encouraged. The post is preferred for candidates who can start at the beginning of Spring term (3rd January 2026).

 

For further details of the post, please contact Dr. Elina Spyrou (Elina.spyrou@imperial.ac.uk). For queries regarding the application process, please contact eee.pgadmissions@imperial.ac.uk.

Additional information

Imperial College London is the UK’s only university focused entirely on science, engineering, medicine, and business. We are consistently rated in the top 10 universities in the world.

 

Additional information on the PhD programme in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering can be found here.

Contact

If you have any additional questions, please contact us at eee.pgadmissions@imperial.ac.uk.