Graduate Fellowships

The graduate fellowship, established by the Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS), is a prestigious grant and enables its winner to further explore a research topic in the areas of electrical insulation and dielectric phenomena. The fellowship aims at students pursuing their Ph.D. degree and is awarded for a one-year research topic aside (but close to) the larger research project of the applicant.

The submitting graduate student must be either a student member of IEEE or have applied for a student membership in IEEE at the time of application submission. Priority will be given to those students who are also DEIS members and if the major advisor for the student is also a DEIS member. Previous recipients of this award are not eligible for consideration.

The DEIS Graduate Student awards are competitive, and the research proposals are refereed by members of the DEIS Education Committee (and/or other referees).

The fellowship is offered annually and will be awarded to 2-5 students. Each recipient receives an initial payment of $3000. The second and final payment of $2000 is made once the recipient published and presented the work at a DEIS conference.

Eligible candidates are full-time graduate students currently pursuing the Ph.D. degrees. The calls for research proposals for the upcoming academic year will be opened in April each year (Call 2024).

Winners of the 2023 graduate fellowship listed here

Contact
Prof. Christian M. Franck
Educational Committee Chair (2023 – ongoing)
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH)
[email protected]

Past awardees

Fabian Bill ETH Zurich

Project Title: “Vitrimers – a Step Towards a More Sustainable Transmission Grid?”

Ghada GmatiUniversity of Quebec in Chicoutimi (UQAC)

Project Title: “Dynamic Moisture and Temperature Monitoring Modules for Power Transformers”

Haoliang Liu – Tianjin University

Project Title: “Space Charge Measurement of Polymer Dielectrics in Strong Magnetic Field Based on Current Integral Method”

Praveen Sahu – School of Engineering Technology at Purdue University (WL), USA

Project Title: “Intracellular Protein Interactions of Biodielectric Triple Negative Cancer Cells Treated with Electric Pulses”

Meng Zhou – Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School (SIGS)

Project Title: “Dielectric Gradient Materials Fabrication: A Synergy of Electric Field Assistance and Photocuring 3D Printing”

Aritra DasIIT Ropar, IndiaLocation of Damaged Insulation for an Underground Power Cable in High-Frequency Model
Zhifei HanTsinghua University, Beijing, ChinaSurface Acoustic Wave Technology for Online Monitoring of Insulator Electric Fields”
Rohith SangineniIIT Guwahati, IndiaA Robust, Cost-effective, Portable and Non-Invasive Device for Condition Assessment of Liquid Insulation
Mingcong YangTsinghua University, Beijing, ChinaIdentification and regulation of interface heterojunctions between high-temperature polymers and inorganic oxides
Shaojie Wang, ChinaTsinghua University, Beijing, ChinaUnderstand the interphase of nanodielectric from the direct detection in model polymer
Shixun HuNorth China Electric Power UniversityDielectric Properties Enhancement Mechanism and Tailoring Strategy of Grafting Modification Based on Thermoplastic Polymer for HVDC Cable Insulation
Jia-Yao PeiTsinghua University, Beijing, ChinaSuppression of conduction loss of polymer dielectrics at elevated temperatures through electrode-dielectric interface engineering”
Duvan Mendoza-LopezUniversity of ToulouseStudy of charge trapping phenomena by coupled LIMM and PSD measurements in BOPP thin films
Tianyu WangTsinghua University, Beijing, ChinaResearch on directly controlling the trap parameters of insulating materials to control the surface charge
Sang ChengTsinghua University, Beijing, ChinaSurface Coated Polymers for High- performance High-temperature Dielectric Materials
Yujie ZhuTsinghua University, ChinaRational Design on High Temperature Polymer via Machine Learning
Alexios IoannidisAristotle University of Thessalonik, GreeceFractal-based modeling of surface discharges in advanced solid dielectrics
Ajith John ThomasIIT Ropar, Rupnagar, IndiaElectric Treeing Breakdown Fields Incorporating Nonlinear Conduction under Steady State DC and Polarity Reversal
Evangelos StaikosAristotle University of Thessalonik, GreeceWide frequency modeling of metal-oxide varistors and advanced surge protection of smart devices
Hanwen RenNorth China Electric Power UniversityDevelopment of space charge measurement technology with high spatial and temporal resolutions based on optical principles
Jia WeiGeorgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USAInvestigation of the dielectric properties of pure supercritical fluids and mixtures
Valerie RenollJohns Hopkins University, USANucleic Acid – Polymer Hybrid Materials for Biocompatible Piezoelectric Devices
Xiaolei ZhaoTsinghua University, Beijing, ChinaStudy on Application of Adaptive Materials in High-Voltage DC Bushings
Hucheng LiangSchool of Electrical and Information Engineering, Tianjin University, China3D Electric Field Reconstruction inside Gas Insulated Transmission Line by Induced Charge Tomography
Tushar DamleSchool of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of TechnologyInvestigation of the effect of surface charge density on insulator flashover characteristics in shipboard power systems
Chunjia GaoNorth China Electric Power UniversityInterface Charge Characteristic of Insulation Structures under Various Voltage Stresses
Yang GeNorth China Electric Power UniversityWorking mechanism of nanoparticles on charge transport, streamer propagation and breakdown property of transformer
Zhikang YuanNorth China Electric Power University, Beijing, ChinaStudy on Synergistic Effects of C 3 F 7 CN Gas Mixtures.
Lakshya MittalPurdue University, USAProteomic Analysis of Breast Cancer Cell Plasma Membrane Electroporation using Ultra-Microsecond and Other Pulses
Maryam Mesgarpour TousiVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityNonlinear dielectrics for partial discharge control in next-generation wide bandgap power
Florian HartmannUniversity Linz, AustriaDielectric Separators for a New Generation of Stretchable Batteries
Asha SharmaIIT Kanpur, IndiaModeling of Interfaces in Nanodielectrics using Electric Force Microscopy
Animesh Roy ChowdhuryTexas Tech University, USAStudy of Possible ″Lock-On″ in a GaN Based Photo Conductive Semiconductor Switch for High Voltage and High Power Applications
Lei GaoTsinghua University BeijingSelf-healing Polymeric Insulation Dielectrics from Photo-Responsive Microcapsule Composites
Amanda LovelessPurdue University, USADerivation of Scaling laws for AC Breakdown Voltage in Microdischarges
Robert PichlerUniversity Linz, AustriaDielectric Elastomers for Energy Harvesting in Aqueous Environment
Ning Liu, ChinaUniversity of Liverpool, UK“Modeling of Charge Trapping/Detrapping Characteristics in XLPE Cables and Their Relation with Ageing”
Thomas Heid, AustriaTU Graz, Austria“Innovative Nano-Structured Epoxy Composites for Enhanced High Voltage Insulation Systems”  
Deep Jariwala, IndiaNorthwestern University, USA“Towards Large-area, Uniform Dielectrics on Two-dimensional Transition Metal
Raphael FärberETH Zurich, Switzerland“Modular arbitrary waveform dielectric spectroscopy for aging diagnostics of recessed epoxy specimens exposed to mixed-frequency high voltage stress”
Myriam Koch, GermanyETH Zurich, Switzerland“Determination of Partial Discharge Inception Level with Pulsed X-Ray”
Christian Siket, AustriaJohannes Kepler University Linz, Austria“Patterned High-K Metal Oxide Dielectric Films for Plastic Electronic Circuits”
Andrew Fierro, USACenter of Pulsed Power and Power Electronics, USA“Investigation of pulsed, low-temperature plasma formation by experimental and simulation techniques”
Peng Wang, ChinaSouthwest Jiatong University, VRC“Influencing Factors on the Lifetime of Turn-to-Turn Insulation for Type II Inverter-Fed Motors at Repetitive Square”
Refat Atef Ghunem, SyriaAmerian University of Sharjah, UAE“A Study of the Direct Current Erosion Mechanism of Poymetric Materials”
Scott Harris, USaCentral Michigan University, USA“Dielectric Barrier Discharges in Micrometer Sized Voids”
Yu Deng, ChinaTsinghua University, China“Electrical Performance of Icicled and It’s Impact on Ice Flashover Due to Morphology Difference”
Yue Fan Du, ChinaNorth China Electric Power University, ChinaEnhancing Transformer Oils Insulating Characteristics Through the Development of Dielectric Nanofluids