Student Assistant: Future Data Infrastructure of Smart Grids

Student Assistant: Future Data Infrastructure of Smart Grids

10%-30%, Zurich, fixed-term

As part of Grid2050 and NCCR Automation, we are building a high-performance, secure, and fault-tolerant data infrastructure to power cutting-edge energy research. Grid2050 connects real-world electricity grid measurements, smart meter data, and actuator control into a single ecosystem for experimentation at scale.

Project background

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.

Job description

• 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 “backpressure 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.

Profile

• 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.

We offer

• 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.

We value diversity and sustainability

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.

Curious? So are we.

We look forward to receiving your online application until 15 Nov 2026, with the following documents:

• Transcripts
• CV
• A short cover letter explaining your motivation for the project and how your previous experience makes you a good fit for the position.
• Link to your relevant projects / code samples (optional)

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to apply early.

Further information about the research group can be found on our Website. Questions regarding the position should be directed to Hanshuo Wu ([email protected]) (no applications).

Please note that we exclusively accept applications submitted through our online application portal. Applications via email or postal services will not be considered.

We would like to point out that the pre-selection is carried out by the responsible recruiters and not by artificial intelligence.

About ETH Zürich

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.