Student Assistant: Data Infrastructure of Smart Grids

As part of Grid
2050 and NCCR Automation, we are building a high-performance, secure, and fault-tolerant data infrastructure to power cutting-edge energy research. Grid
2050 connects real-world electricity grid measurements, smart meter data, and actuator control into a single ecosystem for experimentation at scale.

The future smart grid features the widespread integration of distributed energy resources, introducing new challenges to infrastructure in areas such as automatic control, data management, and communication. The Internet of Things, big data technologies, and operational technology must be reliably and securely integrated to ensure smart grid operations.

We are seeking a reliable and highly motivated student assistant to support our research. In this role, you will design and develop data infrastructure to tackle real-world challenges in smart grid research, ensuring our infrastructure meets requirements in the future—such as scalability under load, resilience to failure, and adaptability to change.

The starting date is flexible but an early start is preferred.

• Infrastructure Development:
  Work in containerd environments, ensure the security, availability, scalability and accountability of our server.
• Communication Pipeline:
  Enhance and extend data and command transmission intrastructure between ETH, utilities, and energy management systems—ensuring they’re reliable (think “back pressure handling” and “exactly-once” semantics) and maintainable.
• Databases:
  Work with time-series databse designed for high-volume ingestion and low-latency queries, and make sure they are scalable and realible under extreme scenarios.
• Reliability & Recovery:
  Implement replication, backup, and disaster recovery strategies—making sure the system survives faults without losing data.
• Front-end Development:
  Build visualization dashboards (Grafana) and remote experimentation APIs to give researchers live insight into grid behavior and improve user experiences on our platform.

• You are an ETH student enrolled in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Power Engineering, or related fields.
• You are passionate about data engineering, systems development, and energy-related topics.
• You are fluent in English. German is a plus but not mandatory.
• You are available to work approximately 8 - 15 hours per week (i.e. one or two days per week).
• You have strong expertise in Git, Python, and Linux development environments.
• Ideally, you have worked with one or some of the following fields:
  RabbitMQ, Grafana, SQL, Docker, and front-end development.
• You pay strong attention to details, and you work responsibly.

• Hands-on experience with real-world data infrasturcture, and distributed system design.
• Working alongside leading academics, industry partners, and a collaborative research community. Rare chance to see theory play out on a real part of our critical infrastructure.
• Flexible working conditions, state-of-the-art facilities, and remuneration according to ETH student assistant salary guidelines Stundenlohn – Staffnet | ETH Zürich.

In line with our values, ETH Zurich encourages an inclusive culture. We promote equality of opportunity, value diversity and nurture a working and learning environment in which the rights and dignity of all our staff and students are respected. Visit our Equal Opportunities and Diversity website to find out how we ensure a fair and open environment that allows everyone to grow and flourish.

Sustainability is a core value for us – we are consistently working towards a climate-neutral future.

Working, teaching and research at ETH Zurich

ETH Zurich is one of the world’s leading universities specialising in science and technology. We are renowned for our excellent education, cutting-edge fundamental research and direct transfer of new knowledge into society. Over 30,000 people from more than 120 countries find our university to be a place that promotes independent thinking and an environment that inspires excellence. Located in the heart of Europe, yet forging connections all over the world, we work together to develop solutions for the global challenges of today and tomorrow.

Questions regarding the position should be directed to Hanshuo Wu (wu.ethz.ch) (no applications).