Electrical and Electronic Engineering: Data-driven Microgrid Control (RS971)

Funding providers: EPSRC IDLA and Dyson Institute 

Subject area: Data Driven Microgrid Control 

Project start date: October 2026 ** (Please see the note below regarding potential later start dates.)

**In exceptional circumstances, and subject to the discretion of the University and/or the relevant funding body, a deferral of offer may be granted to the next available enrolment period. Such deferral will typically not exceed a duration of three calendar months from the originally stipulated commencement date. Please note that only one deferral may be considered, and any such deferral is not guaranteed. 

Supervisors: 

• Dr Meghdad Fazeli 
• Dr Mohammad Monfared 
• Dr Muhammad Usman Ejaz 
• Kayode Popoola Kayode.Popoola@dyson.com (Dyson Institute) 
• Srilatha Pamuri Narayanagari Srilatha.PamuriNarayanagari@dyson.com (Dyson Institute) 

Aligned programme of study: PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering  

Mode of study: Full time or Part time 

Place of study: 

• Swansea University (Bay Campus) 

• Other: Dyson Institute  

Project description: 

To combat climate change and achieve the UK's target of Net Zero, it is expected that the integration of renewable energy sources (RESs) at the distribution/consumption level will keep increasing. The volatile and intermittent nature of RESs causes significant difficulties for the network operator to balance generation with demand and maintain power quality, which makes the network prone to instability and blackouts. In addition to their volatile nature, RESs cannot provide the ancillary services (such as voltage and frequency control) that conventional synchronous generators naturally deliver, exacerbating the situation as the penetration of RES increases, especially at the distribution level. 

In this context, microgrids (MGs) refer to clusters of consumers, prosumers (consumers + producers), energy storage systems (ESSs), and electric vehicles (EVs) that collectively form a local energy community (EC). ECs are supposed to facilitate direct peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading mechanisms to optimize objectives such as reduced bills, reduced emissions, or minimization of the exchanged energy with the grid. Such ECs can also potentially provide ancillary services to the grid, such as power balancing, peak shaving/shifting, voltage and frequency support, and virtual inertial response. 

Due to the volatile and intermittent nature of RESs, in this project, machine learning (ML) methods are used to accurately forecast local generation and demand. To do so, historic local data (e.g., the active buildings in Swansea University) and Met Office data will be used to train and validate the proposed ML model. These forecasted data will then be used to propose and optimize an energy management strategy for an EC comprising a number of prosumers, consumers, ESSs, and EVs. Different vehicle-to-home and vehicle-to-community energy trading strategies will also be proposed and investigated to achieve optimized P2P trading within the EC. 

The project will be done using MATLAB coding and modelling in Simulink environment. 

There is a placement at the Dyson Institute.

Funding duration: 4 years

UK and International applicants 

EPSRC IDLA studentships are available to home and international students. Up to 30% of our cohort can comprise international students, once the limit has been reached, we are unable to make offers to international students.   We are still accepting applications from international applicants.    

International students will not be charged the fee difference between the UK and international rate. Applicants should satisfy the UKRI eligibility requirements. 

Applicants for PhD must hold an undergraduate degree at 2.1 level in Engineering or a related subject, or a master’s degree with a minimum overall grade at ‘Merit’ (or Non-UK equivalent as defined by Swansea University. 

English Language 
IELTS 6.5 Overall (5.5+ each comp.) or Swansea University recognised equivalent. Full details of our English Language policy, including certificate time validity, can be found here. 

Note for international and European applicants:  

Details of how your qualification compares to the published academic entry requirements can be found on our Country Specific Entry Requirements page.  

If you have any questions regarding your academic or fee eligibility based on the above, please email pgrscholarships@swansea.ac.uk with the web-link to the scholarship(s) you are interested in. 

Please note that the programme requires some applicants to hold ATAS clearance, further details on ATAS scheme eligibility are available on the UK Government website.  

ATAS clearance IS NOT required to be held as part of the scholarship application process. Successful award winners (as appropriate) are provided with details as to how to apply for ATAS clearance in tandem with a scholarship course offer. 

This scholarship covers the full cost of tuition fees and an annual stipend at UKRI rate (£21,805 for 2026/27).  with an enhanced stipend payment of £3000 per annum. 

Additional research expenses of up to £1,000 per year will also be available. 

To apply, please complete the entire application form here. 

Applications may be submitted in Welsh and any application submitted in Welsh will be treated no less favourably than an application submitted in English. Please refer to the University’s Welsh Language Policy on Awarding Grants 

To be considered for this scholarship award the following steps are also required.  

1) In section ‘Programme Related Information’ please input the relevant RS Code for the scholarship award i.e. RS971  

2) In section ‘Research’ you will see ‘Proposed project title/studentship title’* (Mandatory)  

• In ‘Proposed project title/studentship title’ please input: 

• the RS Code, RS971  
• the scholarship title  

• Please leave Proposed Supervisor field blank  

• Please leave Research Project (if applicable) blank  

• In ‘Do you have a proposal to upload? *’(Mandatory) Please select Yes  

• Then upload copy of advert (you can save the advert by clicking print, and then print to pdf) 

3) In section ‘Funding information’ please choose the option ‘Scholarship Funding’ only. Please ensure no other options are selected.  

*It is the responsibility of the applicant to list the above information accurately when applying, please note that applications received without the above information listed will not be considered for the scholarship award.  

If you’ve previously applied for this programme, the system will display an “Application Submitted” warning and block a new submission. In this case:  

1. Apply for the same course with the next available start date (e.g., select January if October is unavailable). 
2. Email pgrscholarships@swansea.ac.uk with your student number and the relevant scholarship RS code, requesting the start date be amended to match the advert. 
3. Admissions staff will then update your application accordingly.

Important: If you have previously applied for the same programme & intake, do not re‑apply using a different email address. Applications submitted with an email address that differs from the one used in your original application will not be accepted or considered. 

One application is required per individual Swansea University led research scholarship award; applications cannot be considered listing multiple Swansea University led research scholarship awards.  

NOTE: Applicants for PhD/EngD/ProfD/EdD - to support our commitment to providing an environment free of discrimination and celebrating diversity at Swansea University you are required to complete an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Monitoring Form in addition to your programme application form.    

Please note that completion of the EDI Monitoring Form is mandatory; your application may not progress if this information is not submitted. 

As part of your online application, you MUST upload the following documents (please do not send these via email):  

• CV 

• Degree certificates and transcripts (if you are currently studying for a degree, screenshots of your grades to date are sufficient)  

• A cover letter including a ‘Supplementary Personal Statement’ to explain why the position particularly matches your skills and experience and how you choose to develop the project.  

• One reference (academic or previous employer) on headed paper or using the Swansea University reference form. Please note that we are not able to accept references received citing private email accounts, e.g. Hotmail. Referees should cite their employment email address for verification of reference.  

• Evidence of meeting English Language requirement (if applicable - please note that you do not need to hold a valid English Language test at time of application, as any offer made can be conditional upon the appropriate level of English. Please find further information on what we can accept via our English Language policy pages here). 

• Copy of UK resident visa (if applicable)  

• Confirmation of EDI form submission 

Informal enquiries are welcome; please contact:  

NAME: Dr Meghdad Fazeli  

EMAIL: m.fazeli@swansea.ac.uk 

*External Partner Application Data Sharing – Please note that as part of the scholarship application selection process, application data sharing may occur with external partners outside of the University, when joint/co- funding of a scholarship project is applicable.