8 universities forms the consortium ‘Inter-oPEn’ to work on the development of HVDC electricity networks. The consortium stands out for coupling the technical developments with the legal aspects in order to foster innovation in the energy sector. The project is funded by the European Union as a Marie Curie doctoral training network (https://marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/(...)ns/doctoral-networks). 

The University of Groningen provides  two 4-year PhD vacancies that will focus on energy law and technology law respectively.

The project societal challenge focuses on the future interoperability of different network elements for creating a cost-effective connection of the vast amount of offshore wind, and integration of the European electricity networks. 

The energy law and governance component on one hand, and the technology law component on the other hand, form two separate PhD trajectories. 
The project will make an assessment of open-source and closed-source IP models to support interoperability and information sharing.

More information and conditions are published on the link below.