PhD Candidate Award 2025 Edition

In 2025, the EERA JP Smart Grids launched the first edition of its PhD Candidate Award, a new initiative dedicated to recognising and promoting excellent doctoral research in the field of smart grids.

The award aims to highlight high-quality PhD research pathways that contribute to the development of more sustainable, resilient and efficient energy systems. It focuses on the originality, scientific quality, methodological soundness and relevance of ongoing doctoral work, while showcasing the role of young researchers in advancing innovation for Europe’s future energy system.

Through this initiative, EERA JP Smart Grids seeks to support scientific excellence, encourage knowledge exchange within its community, and inspire a new generation of researchers working on smart grids solutions.

Find below more details about the 2025 call, the winners, the award ceremony, as well as pictures and videos from the initiative.

2025 Call

Award details

  • Gold Award: up to 3 recipients (€3,000 each)
  • Silver Award: up to 3 recipients (€2,000 each)

Awardees will be invited to present their research at the JP Smart Grids Workshop in spring 2026.

Eligibility criteria

Applicants must:

  • Applicants must have successfully completed at least the 1st year of their PhD research and must not have defended their PhD thesis before 30 September 2025.
  • Be currently enrolled in a PhD programme at a member organisation of the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA), or have conducted significant collaborative research related to their PhD in partnership with an EERA member organization.
  • Conduct research aligned with at least one the following JP Smart Grids thematic areas:
    1. Technologies and tools for the management of future power systems
    2. Storage integration
    3. Smart and flexible distribution systems
    4. Consumer and prosumer engagement through digitalisation and ICT
    5. Flexible transmission networks

Application process

Applicants must submit a complete application by 30 November 2025 (23:59 Brussels time) to smartgrids@eera-set.eu.

DOWNLOAD HERE 2026 CALL FULL TEXT

Winners

Seven PhD candidates from leading European research institutions were honoured for their contributions across a range of topics, including grid optimisation, flexibility in industrial systems, secure digital infrastructures, and advanced modelling of power systems:

  • S. Hellmann (DBFZ, Germany) – Model-based monitoring and control of agricultural anaerobic digestion plants
  • L. Lázaro Elorriaga (Tecnalia, Spain) – Secure Virtualized Architecture for IEC 61850 Substations: Critical Message Authentication Based on IEC 62351-6 and TEEs
  • G. Bastianel (KU Leuven, Belgium) – Grid Topology Optimization for Electrical Energy Hub Operation
  • S. Zizzania (University of Naples, Italy) – Unlocking flexibility and efficiency potential to enable grid-interactive and decarbonised industrial systems
  • A. Vaca (University College Dublin, Ireland) – Stochastic Modelling and Control of Granular Power Systems
  • A. Berdygozhin (University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom) – Asymmetrical Operation of EHV Transmission Lines
  • K. Yurtseven (KU Leuven, Belgium) – Risk-based Congestion Management Under Non-Gaussian Uncertainty in Hybrid AC/DC Grids