Privacy-Preserving AI and Knowledge Graphs for Energy Digital Twins

Nieuwe Universiteitsgebouw (NU)

Amsterdam

0.8 / 1

Faculty of Science

PhD

MSc

Closes on

05-07-2026

Publishing date

05-06-2026

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Are you passionate about Artificial Intelligence, Knowledge Graphs, Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, and responsible data sharing?

Your function

Do you want to contribute to the future of sustainable energy systems while addressing fundamental challenges in privacy, trust, and explainability?

A 4-year full-time, fully-funded PhD position is available at the Knowledge in Artificial Intelligence (KAI) group and the User-Centric Data Science (UCDS) group of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, in close collaboration with TU Delft and societal partners including the Municipality of Alkmaar and Arnhem Electricity Campus, as part of the NWO-funded KIC project FEDERATE: Fair Energy Data Environments for Renewable Autonomous Twin Empowerment.

The energy transition increasingly relies on data-driven digital twins that integrate information from municipalities, energy providers, grid operators, and other stakeholders. While sharing data enables better planning, optimization, and decision-making, it also raises important challenges regarding privacy, data ownership, regulatory compliance, and trust.

As a PhD candidate, you will develop novel AI and semantic technologies for privacy-preserving knowledge sharing in federated energy-data environments. Your research will focus on combining knowledge graphs, ontologies, knowledge representation and reasoning, machine unlearning, and formal reasoning to enable the selective removal of sensitive information while preserving the usefulness of shared knowledge.

Your duties
You will investigate how formal forgetting techniques, such as uniform interpolation and ontology forgetting, can be adapted to large-scale knowledge graphs and digital twins. In particular, you will explore:

Modular ontology engineering and sensitivity modelling for energy-data ecosystems
Formal forgetting and machine unlearning techniques for knowledge graphs and ontologies
Temporal unlearning mechanisms for enforcing data-retention and privacy policies
Privacy-preserving reasoning and federated knowledge graph infrastructures
Formal verification techniques to certify that deleted knowledge cannot be reconstructed through logical inference
Neuro-symbolic or machine unlearning approaches for privacy preserve
Auditable and GDPR-compliant AI systems for trustworthy data sharing

The project combines theoretical advances in Knowledge Representation and Reasoning with real-world validation in energy-transition use cases. You will collaborate closely with researchers from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and TU Delft, as well as stakeholders from municipalities and energy innovation ecosystems.

Towards the end of your PhD, you will evaluate your methods in realistic pilot environments involving municipal and energy-campus data, contributing directly to trustworthy and responsible AI solutions for the energy transition.

Our PhD students are expected to publish their research at leading venues in Artificial Intelligence, Knowledge Representation, Semantic Technologies, and Machine Learning, including AAAI, IJCAI, ECAI, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, ACL, EMNLP, KR, ISWC, ESWC, The Web Conference (WWW), and other top international conferences and journals.

Your profile

As a university, we strive to cultivate a welcoming and supportive community for researchers while championing equal opportunities for all. KAI (https://kai.cs.vu.nl/) and UCDS (https://ucds.cs.vu.nl/) are internationally recognized research groups with a strong track record in Artificial Intelligence, Knowledge Representation and Semantic Technologies. Human-Centred AI, Semantic Web technologies, Knowledge Graphs, and responsible data-driven systems.

We value diversity in all its forms and believe that different perspectives strengthen our research and teaching. We actively encourage applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

We are looking for a highly motivated PhD candidate with the following qualifications:

A Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Information Science, Mathematics, or a closely related field
Strong interest in Artificial Intelligence, knowledge representation and reasoning, and semantic technologies
Background in one or more of the following areas:
- Knowledge Representation and Reasoning, computational logic, especially forgetting/uniform interpolation, Craig Interpolation, concept interpolation, etc.
- Semantic Web Technologies
- Machine Learning and Explainable AI
- Data Privacy and Security
Solid programming skills, e.g., in Python and/or Java
Good communication skills in English (written and spoken)
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
Previous research experience in related topics is considered a plus

Supervision
The PhD candidate will be supervised by:

Dr. Jieying Chen (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
Dr. Ronald Siebes (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
Dr. Victor de Boer (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

The successful candidate will become part of a vibrant interdisciplinary team working at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, Knowledge Representation, Semantic Technologies, Privacy-Preserving AI, and Digital Twins for the Energy Transition.

As a university, we strive for equal opportunities for all, recognising that diversity takes many forms. We believe that diversity in all its complexity is invaluable for the quality of our teaching, research and service. We are always looking for talent with diverse backgrounds and experiences. This also means that we are committed to creating an inclusive community so that we can use diversity as an asset.

We realise that each individual brings a unique set of skills, expertise and mindset. Therefore we are happy to invite anyone who recognises themselves in the profile to apply, even if you do not meet all the requirements.

What do we offer?

A challenging position in a socially engaged organisation. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable. So in return for your efforts, we offer you:

a salary of € 3.059,00 (PhD) and maximum € 3.881,00 (PhD) gross per month in the fourth year, for a full-time employment
an employment contract of initially 18 months. If there is sufficient perspective, this will be extended to a total of 4 years. Your dissertation at the end of the fourth year forms the end of your employment contract.
This is a full-time position, but you are free to choose to reduce your working hours to 0.8 FTE.

We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and arrangements. Some examples:

A full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata.
8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
contribution to commuting expenses
optional model for designing a personalized benefits package
certain tax benefits (30% ruling) might apply to international candidates

About us

About the department
The VUA Department of Computer Science has approximately 170 members, including 35 tenured staff members and 90 PhD students. The tenured staff members form the essential basis for the functioning of the department. A tenured staff member is required to make significant contributions to the research and education programmes, and to spend effort on specific tasks at the department level.

Faculty of Science
Working at the Faculty of Science means collaborating with students, lecturers and researchers who are focused on their field, yet have a broad view of the world. We are proud of a positive and inclusive workplace culture within the faculty, where we work together with great energy and a pragmatic attitude to tackle social challenges. At the Faculty of Science, scientists and students work on fundamental and complex societal issues for a sustainable, healthy and just future.

From forest fires to big data, from obesity to malnutrition, from helium to the universe and from genetics to medicine: our education and research cover the full breadth of science, from molecules to mankind. Our academic education and research are highly experimental, technical and interdisciplinary in nature. That is why we collaborate extensively with leading scientific institutes and industry. The faculty has more than 8,000 students studying in one of the 39 programms and employs more than 1,400 staff across 10 scientific departments, making us one of the largest science faculties in the Netherlands.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam stands for values-driven education and research. We are open-minded experts with the ability to think freely - a broader mind. Maintaining an entrepreneurial perspective and concentrating on diversity, significance and humanity, we work on sustainable solutions with social impact. By joining forces, across the boundaries of disciplines, we work towards a better world for people and planet. Together we create a safe and respectful working and study climate, and an inspiring environment for education and research. Learn more about our codes of conduct

We are located on one physical campus, in the heart of Amsterdam's Zuidas business district, with excellent location and accessibility. Over 6,150 staff work at the VU and over 31,000 students attend academic education.

Diversity
Diversity is the driving force of VU Amsterdam. VU wants to be accessible and receptive to diversity in disciplines, cultures, ideas, nationalities, beliefs, preferences and worldviews. We believe that trust, respect, interest and differences lead to new insights and innovation, to sharpness and clarity, to excellence and a broader understanding.

We stand for an inclusive community and believe that diversity and internationalisation contribute to the quality of education, research and our services.

Therefore, we are always searching for people whose backgrounds and experience contribute to the diversity of the VU community.

Interested

Are you interested in this position? Please apply via the application button before July 5, 2026. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so early submission is encouraged. Your application should include:

A short motivation letter outlining your motivation and suitability for this position. (no longer than 1 page).
A CV detailing your education, research experience, and publications (if applicable).
Transcripts of your academic records for BOTH BSc and MSc.
Contact details of two referees.
Any other documents you deem relevant.

Vacancy questions
If you have any questions regarding this vacancy, you may contact:

Name: Jieying Chen
Position: Assistant Professor
E-mail: [email protected]

Name: Ronald Siebes
Position: Assistant Professor
E-mail: [email protected]

Name: Victor de Boer
Position: Associate Professor
E-mail: [email protected]

If you have any questions regarding moving to Amsterdam, and working at VU Amsterdam, you may contact the VU international staff support office:

E-mail: [email protected]

Applications received by e-mail will not be considered.

Acquisition in response to this advertisement is not appreciated.