The Adelaide Graduate Research School is partnering with the Department for Energy and Mining to pioneer research into a low carbon future for South Australia.

The Department for Energy and Mining (DEM) leads the global transformation economy, overseeing the responsible mining and production of the minerals, metals and fuels of the future, to safely and sustainably generate the energy and low carbon products of the future.

DEM requires a PhD student to undertake a study on heavy vehicle movements and how South Australia will be impacted by a change to electric or hydrogen fuelled heavy duty vehicles. The selected student will be located within the Growth and Low Carbon Division of DEM.

About the project:
There is an immediate need to decrease the number of diesel fuelled heavy transport vehicles, and to accelerate the uptake of electric heavy transport vehicles in Australia. Electrification of the national truck fleet has significant potential to ensure the freight sector is greener, quieter, and delivers significant economic benefits.

The goal of the research is to determine the optimal locations and ranges for the truck charging/refuelling stations to ensure that heavy electric transport vehicles are able to successfully travel long distances transport routes.

The PhD internship will focus on:
• Working directly with the Consultant to determine what research activities are relevant to the Consultants Optimal Model (Model).
• Conduct research, seeking and locating data sets that are beneficial to the Model.
• Preform a common-sense analysis on the data sets to ensure its relevance to the Model.
• Work with the Consultants in determining best ways to analyse the data sets.

It is envisaged that the PhD student will undertake research using existing data sets and provide data to the consultants in range of different areas including but not limited to heavy vehicle axel type/count and numbers on known trucking routes (ie B-double, triples etc); Freight type - refrigerated, non- refrigerated; types of loads; weights by configuration; origin and destinations; ownership models of trucks; data gap anaylsis etc. The consultants will analyse the data and provide a Model back to DEM.

Expected research outcomes for students may include:
• Contributing to facilitating a large decrease in CO2 emissions for the State
• Impacting and reshaping future policy
• Applying research skills in industrial settings
• Developing networks in government

The selected applicant, their supervisor, and the partner organisation's focal contact person will have the opportunity to further discuss the nature of research and development activities and internship arrangements post-selection. An expected commencement date is 1 April 2023.

Eligibility:
The PhD student must be:
- within the first 18 months of their candidature if commenced as full-time student,
- willing to undertake the internship for a minimum duration of 60 FTE business days,
- making satisfactory progress, and
- undertaking research in an area (Data Science, Data Analytics, Statistics. Mathematics. Computer Science ideally) aligned with the internship

To apply, please email the following documents to hdr_internships@adelaide.edu.au (HDR Internships Office) with the subject line - Department of Energy and Mining Internship
- Resume
- Cover Letter (of not more than 2 pages) outlining your interest in the internship and describing how your background and research area align with the proposed field of internship.

Please note that applications will be considered on a rolling basis and the advertisement may be closed earlier, if a suitable applicant is shortlisted prior to the listed closing date. Furthermore, if shortlisted, a meeting will be organised between the student, their supervisor and the organisation's focal contact person within a week of shortlisting. Students may consider discussing their internship plans with their Principal Supervisor in anticipation of that.