The Opportunity
Monash University and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) launched the Zema Energy Studies Scholarship in March 2019, a world-class Ph D program to develop the nation’s future energy leaders.
The Scholarship has been established to honour the memory of AEMO’s founding Chief Executive Officer, energy reform leader and Monash alumnus Matt Zema, and is designed to support the next generation of leaders to meet Australia's energy sector challenges. It was created with the support of the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council and in partnership with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).
The Zema Scholarship aims to create a cohort of energy professionals with advanced multidisciplinary knowledge across engineering, IT and business and economics. The Ph D program is intended to deepen student’s expertise, unlock their full leadership potential and help them gain exposure to Australia’s national energy industry. The scholarship provides a $50,000 per annum stipend plus the opportunity for a paid internship with AEMO, and will support the successful applicant for the approved duration of their Ph D candidature, to a maximum of three-and-a-half years.
Candidates interested in a Masters by Research in the below topic areas, will also be considered. Potential research areas and supervisors.
These are example projects listed under the Zema Energy Studies Scholarship. If you would like to contact a supervisor and design an energy related research project, this would be considered. Multidisciplinary projects will be given priority.
Links to information about research areas in engineering, information technology, and business & economics.
1. Supplying synthetic inertia
Supervisors: Dr Behrooz Bahrani (Engineering) and Associate Professor Guillaume Roger (Economics)
This project explores how batteries connected to inverters can be used to substitute for physical inertia, and to compare these with generation turbines (fossil and renewable) and synchronous condensers. Importantly, it also explores how new markets (for example, the existing Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) market) can be developed to supply synthetic inertia. This requires valuing inertia to establish a demand for inertia and organising its supply by private operators.
2. Role of storage in the energy market
Supervisors: Dr Roger Dargaville
Energy storage can take many forms, e.g. lithium ion batteries at a variety of scales, pumped hydro energy storage, or thermal storage. Understanding the optimal mix of technologies is challenging and is dependent on requirements of both power (GW) and energy (GWh) and characteristics of the generation fleet (mix of wind, solar, hydro etc) and the likelihood of wind and solar ‘droughts’. Also, a mix of utility scale and residential/SME scale batteries are influenced by different sets of economics and policies. Finally, project risk can also be a factor, with long timescale build projects such as PHES being at a disadvantage to quite-to-install technologies such as Li-Ion. This project will investigate, through numerical analysis, the optimal and likely mix of storage in the mix.
3. Role of EVs in the grid
Supervisors: Professor Hai L Vu (Engineering) and TBD
Electric vehicles (EVs) become increasingly popular due to their efficiency and environmental friendliness. However, mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) will result in significant power demand due to battery charging which in turn affects the power distribution network. This project will develop models to study and evaluate this impact taking into account the fact that EV chargings are spatial and temporal variables depending on individual activities, traffic conditions and recharge routines etc. Insights gained from the models can be then used to design strategies to incentivise preferable charging/discharging behaviours or to load balance the power grid, or evaluate the overall benefits of large-scale EV adoption by utilising the existing economic model, e.g. CGE model.
Candidate Requirements

• You can apply to pursue one of the Zema scholarship projects or contact a willing supervisor and design your own project. See the list of potential supervisors at Monash. Please note that researchers receive many requests for supervision. Make sure your email is specific for the Zema Scholarship and describes the research area/project you wish to work in, and provides details of your academic record. If the researcher agrees to be nominated on your application, you should proceed to the next step
• The process for applying for a Ph D scholarship at Monash varies for each faculty, but in general you will need to find a supervisor (an academic at Monash) and then submit an expression of interest with your faculty, after which you will be invited to make a full submission.

Engineering
Submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) or To Apply
After you have received an invitation to apply, you can submit an application via the online portal.
The deadline for submitting full applications is 31 October 2024, and so you should be making contact with potential supervisors by early October.
Enquiries: energy-institute@monash.edu
Applications Close: Thursday 31 October 2024, 5:00pm AEDT
Supporting a diverse workforce