James O'Donnell

The University of Limerick is offering a fully funded PhD position focused on developing AI and interoperable methods to support energy modeling of the future building stock. This research is part of a national-scale initiative to create a digital twin of Ireland’s built environment, enabling data-driven decision-making in energy efficiency, climate resilience, urban planning, and policy making. The project aims to model energy renovation strategies across multiple geographical scales, from individual buildings to districts and the national level, using advanced energy modeling techniques such as white box, grey box, and black box solutions. The successful candidate will contribute to the semantic infrastructure underpinning this digital twin, with a focus on integrating, interoperating, and intelligently querying building-related data to support large-scale building renovation. The research will involve developing and applying semantic web technologies, including ontologies, linked data, and knowledge graphs, to represent and reason about building information at scale. The use of novel AI agents for interacting with these graphs is also a key component. The work will be grounded in real-world datasets and national initiatives, contributing to the design of scalable, standards-compliant semantic models for Ireland’s building stock. This PhD project is closely linked to the NexSys project and the Building Energy Informatics Group at University College Dublin, with Prof James O'Donnell serving as the supervisor. The candidate will have opportunities to collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, engage with stakeholders, and participate in academic and industry internships. The position offers advanced research training, critical problem-solving experience, and a strong foundation for a career in energy technologies, environmental engineering, and information systems. Applicants should possess a high honours Bachelor’s or Master’s degree (2.1 or higher) in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related discipline, or have equivalent industry experience. Required skills include strong programming abilities (Python, JavaScript, SPARQL), familiarity with semantic technologies (RDF, OWL, SHACL) or large databases, and excellent English communication skills. Desirable skills include experience with building data formats (IFC, gbXML, CityGML), machine learning, building physics, thermodynamics, and energy modeling tools (EnergyPlus, IES VE, TRNSYS, Modelica). Candidates should demonstrate research experience, attention to detail, organizational skills, and the ability to manage complex workloads and deadlines. The scholarship covers a stipend of €25,000 per annum, travel/consumables/materials budget, and tuition fees for up to four years. The application process requires submission of a cover letter and CV via email to Prof James O'Donnell at [email protected] by February 1, 2026. This is an excellent opportunity for motivated students to contribute to cutting-edge research at the intersection of energy modeling, AI, and digital infrastructure for sustainable built environments.

The University of Limerick invites applications for a funded PhD position focused on 'Energy Modelling Methods to Support Digital Twins of National Scale Building Stocks.' This project is part of a larger initiative to decarbonise Ireland's energy system, addressing technical and societal challenges in climate change mitigation. The university is developing a national-scale digital twin of its built environment, enabling data-driven decision-making in energy efficiency, climate resilience, urban planning, and policy making. The PhD research will contribute to the energy modelling layer underpinning this digital twin, with a primary focus on bottom-up demand modelling, electrification scenario analysis, and validation of building-stock energy models at national scale. The project involves integrating multiple datasets and evaluating various renovation approaches, including fabric-first, cost optimal, district heating, renewable integration, demand-flexibility, and peer-to-peer energy trading. The research will quantify the impact of electrification technologies such as heat pumps, EVs, and rooftop PV on national demand and the low-voltage distribution network, supporting the evaluation of renovation, technology adoption, and policy scenarios. Grounded in real-world Irish datasets (BER, GeoDirectory, ESB Networks LV data, ERA5), the project aims to deliver a robust, validated energy modelling layer for Ireland’s building stock. To enhance accessibility for stakeholders (DSOs, regulators, policymakers, researchers), the candidate will extend a prototype building-stock knowledge graph and develop a Large Language Model (LLM) based natural-language query interface, exposed through a web-based tool. The energy modelling remains the primary research focus, with the knowledge graph and LLM interface serving as the delivery layer for model outputs. Throughout the PhD, the successful candidate will gain advanced research expertise, critical problem-solving skills, and access to academic and industry internships, preparing them for a career at the forefront of innovation. The project is interdisciplinary, involving collaboration with teams across the NexSys project and the Building Energy Informatics Group at UCD. Applicants should have a First Class or upper Second Class (2.1 or higher) Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering, Energy Systems, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, Physics, or a related quantitative discipline. Required skills include strong programming (Python, NumPy, pandas, scipy), experience with heterogeneous datasets, and excellent English communication. Desirable skills include energy modelling, building physics simulation tools (EnergyPlus, IDA-ICE, Modelica, TRNSYS), stochastic modelling, geospatial data (GIS, geopandas, QGIS), national-scale energy datasets, machine learning, LLMs, knowledge graph technologies, web-based tool development, and a record of research publications. Funding is available for up to 4 years, covering a stipend of €25,000 per annum, travel/consumables/materials budget, and tuition fees. The application process requires submission of a cover letter and CV via the provided link. For queries, contact Prof James O'Donnell at [email protected]. The deadline for applications is June 7, 2026.