PhD-student Dominik Franjo Dominkovic from DTU Energy has been awarded the Elite Research travel grant by the Danish Ministry for Higher Education and Science.
The Elite Research Initiative is the unifying brand name for a series of initiatives designed to honor and support the biggest research talents in Danish research. One initiative is the Elite Research travel grant of DKK 200,000, given to 20 very talented PhD students to perform longer-term studies in some of the best research environments in the world. One of the recipients this year is Dominik Franjo Dominkovic from DTU Energy.
“I am very happy for receiving the grant. Not only is it always nice to be acknowledged for the work, that you do, but it also makes it possible for me to visit not only one but two international research groups”, says 26-year-old Dominik Franjo Dominkovic, PhD-student at DTU Energy, currently in Singapore on the first of his two external research stays. Here he is visiting Nanyang University where he works on systems for building cooling using cold water.
Dominik, who is working in the Section for Energy Systems and Analysis at DTU Energy, will use his insights into the Danish distributed heating system to study similar systems for cooling.
"Not only is it always nice to be acknowledged for the work, that you do, but it also makes it possible for me to visit not only one but two international research groups"
Dominik Franjo Dominkovic, PhD-student at DTU Energy
“Singapore has a very hot and humid climate and uses a lot of energy for cooling. So far they have mostly focused on single building solutions, but now the researchers in Singapore want to implement a district cooling system based on the Danish experience with district heating”, says Dominik. The idea is to use waste heat from existing power plants to make cooling by absorbtion chiller technology.
“My role as a visiting PhD is to collect data on how much waste heat is at disposal, the cooling demand and to generate some different scenarios for the district cooling penetration in Singapore”, says Dominik.
With the Elite Research Grant in hand, the next research stay of Dominik will be at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado, US, where they focus more on the power sector itself and the relationship between producer and consumer.
“I want to try out different research environments in Asia and the USA to learn as much as I can, but so far I prefer the way you do it in Scandinavia. I like working in a society that values research like in Denmark”, says Dominik, who originate from Croatia but fell in love in Denmark during a trip as a backpacker.
The Elite Research prices were presented to the recipients by the Danish minister for Higher Education and Science, Søren Pind, at a prize ceremony February 23, 2017, at the Elite Research Conference in Copenhagen, with attendance of Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary and several of the best elite researchers of Denmark. The purpose of EliteForsk initiative is to draw attention to outstanding researchers and research results. In addition, EliteForsk also highlight researchers as role models in order to attract more young students for a career in research so fullfill the Danish ambitions of making Denmark one of the world's leading and most competitive knowledge societies.