Many industrial and societal challenges are related to dynamical systems and processes characterized by a strongly increasing level of interconnectedness and complexity. This is particularly the case for systems that involve interaction between many continuous and discrete elements on multiple timescales. Current analysis and control approaches, which are based on purely continuous or discrete-time approximations and on time-scale separation, do not offer stringent stability and performance guarantees and badly scale with the system or network size.
The aim of the doctorate is to contribute to a new generation of analysis methods with strong mathematical foundations, that explicitly take timescale coupling into account and can be translated into scalable design tools. The focus is on the design of generic analysis and control methodologies, in line with the transversal paradigm of control theory, yet the developments will be steered and validated by application cases in electrical systems and networks.
The methodology is grounded in the input-output viewpoint towards dynamical systems and networks, the theory of dissipativity, and recent advances in the domains of network science and hybrid control systems.
The successful applicant will start the PhD at KU Leuven and spend three periods of 6 months of research time at the Université de Lille during the PhD trajectory, resulting in a joint doctoral degree of both universities, under supervision of L. Hetel (Université de Lille) and W. Michiels (KU Leuven). The supervisors have a significant track record of collaboration, including collaboration in the framework of the European Joint Doctorates project UCoCoS, and complementary expertise on hybrid systems and network science, respectively.
More information and application instructions can be found at
https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60344168?lang=en
