Ph.D. Dissertation Challenge

meet the Energy Industry’s future leaders

The IEEE PES Grid Edge Technologies Conference and Exposition committee is pleased to announce the “3-Minute Ph.D. Dissertation Challenge” again for our 2025 meeting and invites Ph.D. students and recent graduates to participate. The competition will provide an international platform for all Ph.D. researchers in the fields related to Grid Edge technologies to present their projects. Each talk is limited to 3 minutes, and up to 4 winners will be awarded.

Call for Participation Has now Closed

This challenge recognizes quality research and provides a unified platform to share technology innovations and exchange ideas between academia and industry. The presented ideas should demonstrate the economic, societal, environmental, or technological advancements. The challenge is open to those who meet either of the following criteria:

• Current Ph.D. students who have passed their qualification exams and started their Ph.D. dissertation research.
• Recent Ph.D. graduates who defended their dissertation after January 1, 2024 (proof would be required).

Participants should have a research topic related to the Grid Edge Technologies Conference theme. Example topics include:

Timeline and Submissions Guidelines:

Round 1: Initial submission, including a 3-minute recorded video.

The format of the video should be close to the final event settings, and it should include:

• Yourself: the participant should be included in the video recording.
• Slides: the use of presentation slides is recommended.
  • Explain the problem you are trying to solve. Grid Edge-related problems only.
  • Introduce your technical approach.
  • Summarize the potential impact of your work.

Round 1 submission window: April 1^st, 2024 – August 15^th, 2024.

Round 2: The selected finalists will be informed by September 2024 and invited to participate in the on-site 3-Minute Challenge during the conference in Jan 2025 at the San Diego Convention Center. No remote participation is allowed.

The finalists will have a 3-minute presentation in front of the industry/academia judge panels, who will vote to select four winners for a $5,000 cash prize each.

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Meet the 2025 judges:

Meet Larissa

Larissa Affolabi is a winner from the 2023 IEEE PES Grid Edge Technologies Ph.D. Challenge. Larissa is PES graduate student member who is pursuing her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering with a focus in Power Systems at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). She became an engineer so she could pursue a career that would allow her to make a meaningful impact on society by solving real-world problems.

“In [events like the IEEE PES Grid Edge Technologies], you get to meet and interact with professionals and learn about what they are doing, the most pressing issues, and the latest advancement in the field – importantly – you get to do something besides your own work which can be truly eye-opening,” she said.

Read more about Larissa’s story.

Meet the 54 Ph.D. researchers from 38 universities across 13 countries who participated in the 2023 Challenge

USA Universities

International Universities