A rewarding role
As the Professor (Lector) of Smart Energy, you will steer the next phase of the research group’s development within MNEXT. Building on a solid foundation, you will collaborate with researchers, educational staff, and external partners to shape a focused research agenda centered on smart and integrated energy systems.
Guided by this agenda, you will address issues related to smart and integrated energy systems, focusing on system integration, grid congestion, flexibility, and the intelligent management of energy flows. You will utilize tools such as data, monitoring, digital twins, predictive control, and AI to tackle the societal and technological challenges of the energy transition.
You will bring focus to the research portfolio and translate current industry developments into long-term research programs and new partnerships. In doing so, you will ensure the quality, coherence, and impact of the research while actively contributing to securing external research funding. Together with researchers, companies, government bodies, and knowledge institutions, you will develop consortia that contribute to a sustainable, reliable, and affordable energy supply.
Additionally, you will collaborate with the research team on the further development of the research group. You will foster a sense of ownership regarding the subject matter, encourage talent development, and promote collaboration within clearly defined research themes. You will also strengthen the links between research, education, and talent development, ensuring that knowledge and research findings reach academic programs, professionals, and the industry. Working alongside the Renewable Energy Carriers research group, you will help further develop the energy cluster within MNEXT and increase the societal impact of applied research.
at MNEXT
The Smart Energy research group is part of MNEXT, the Centre of Expertise for the energy and materials transition established by Avans University of Applied Sciences and HZ University of Applied Sciences. MNEXT is a broad and highly experienced research environment within the applied research sector of universities of applied sciences; it works daily on solutions for societal challenges related to the materials and energy transitions.
Together with the Renewable Energy Carriers research group, Smart Energy forms the energy cluster within MNEXT. While both groups maintain their own distinct thematic profiles, they collaborate on joint programming, research facilities, external positioning, and knowledge development regarding the energy transition.
The Smart Energy research group focuses on smart and integrated energy systems, working closely with companies, government bodies, knowledge institutions, and educational programs. The integration of research, education, and talent development is a key element of the group’s ongoing evolution. Through challenging projects and the research facilities at the SEnD Lab, researchers, lecturers, students, and professionals collaborate on practice-oriented innovations.
The research group possesses a solid thematic foundation, specialized expertise, a relevant research portfolio, and high-quality facilities. Its ambition for the coming years is to further strengthen its societal impact, external positioning, team development, and long-term research programs.
We offer you
An environment where you have the freedom to explore and improve; this is how we bring out the best in you. We support this through development opportunities and a range of other attractive employment conditions. We also offer:
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A gross monthly salary ranging from a minimum of €7,357 to a maximum of €9,544 for a full-time position (scale 15, HBO Collective Labour Agreement).
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A year-end bonus roughly equivalent to a thirteenth month’s salary.
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An initial temporary appointment for a period of eight years.
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The option to work partly from home, giving you ample opportunity to achieve a good work-life balance.
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Approximately 50 days of leave per year based on a full-time appointment and a 40-hour workweek.
What you bring
For you, subject-matter expertise goes hand in hand with an entrepreneurial mindset, collaboration, and inclusive leadership. In complex environments, you know how to bring people, knowledge, and interests together to generate collective momentum. Driven by vision, curiosity, and the ability to build connections, you unite researchers, educational professionals, companies, and societal partners around a shared ambition.
Developing people, teams, and a sense of ownership over the subject matter is a key aspect of your leadership. You create opportunities for talent, foster collaboration, and help researchers and other professionals grow within their fields. At the same time, you thrive in an environment where networking, identifying new opportunities, and building partnerships are just as important as subject-matter expertise.
With a broad perspective on research and innovation, you translate societal developments into relevant research programs, external funding, and sustainable impact. You navigate easily between strategic issues, substantive discussions, and collaboration with a diverse range of stakeholders.
You also bring:
- An academic degree and a PhD relevant to the field of smart and integrated energy systems.
- Experience with applied and/or academic research.
- A relevant network within the energy transition sector and the ability to leverage it for collaboration, consortium building, and knowledge development.
- Proven experience in securing external research funding and developing (research) programs.
- Excellent command of the Dutch language, both spoken and written.
Large yet small-scale. Committed. Personal. That is Avans. Here, you can be yourself. Your unique ideas and insights contribute to our character as a learning and entrepreneurial institution.
Avans is actively evolving from an educational institution into a knowledge institution. We are building a relevant, robust Avans that is future-proof and firmly rooted in society. We combine high-quality practice-based research with future-oriented, flexible education, allowing students to partially shape their own learning paths.
Together with our lecturers, researchers, professors, and professional partners, we work on solutions for societal challenges and on developing talent in our region. Students, professionals, and researchers learn together in a practical setting. In doing so, we make education more flexible and relevant while contributing to lifelong learning.
How to apply
Do you see a great role for yourself in the further development of Smart Energy and in strengthening practice-based research at Avans? If so, please apply via the application button by 28 October. In your cover letter, tell us why you are excited about this challenge. We have scheduled the first round of interviews for Wednesday, 11 November; it would be great if you could clear your schedule for that day. We will provide an update on your application no later than five days before the scheduled interviews.