PhD in Micromachined Microwave/THz Communication Systems

PhD in Micromachined Microwave/THz Communication Systems focuses on new hardware technology for enabling future telecommunication systems approaching terahertz frequencies.

KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm has grown to become one of Europe’s leading technical and engineering universities, as well as a key centre of intellectual talent and innovation. We are Sweden’s largest technical research and learning institution and home to students, researchers and faculty from around the world. Our research and education covers a wide area including natural sciences and all branches of engineering, as well as architecture, industrial management, urban planning, history and philosophy.

Project description

Third-cycle subject: Electrical Engineering

The project focuses on new hardware technology for enabling future telecommunication systems approaching terahertz frequencies. Highly miniaturized, MEMS-reconfigurable and high performance communication front-ends are to be demonstrated from 500 GHz to beyond 1 THz, enabled by micromachined waveguide systems integrated in a single silicon chip. Novel communication architectures are to be investigated for this frequency range. The project is a collaboration between KTH and Chalmers and is supported by six industrial partners. The project is funded by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Reseach (SSF).

Supervision: The doctoral student will be supervised by: Prof. Joachim Oberhammer and Dr Umer Shah

What we offer

• The possibility to study in a dynamic and international research environment in collaboration with industries and prominent universities from all over the world.Read more
• A workplace with many employee benefits and monthly salary according to KTH’s Doctoral student salary agreement.
• A postgraduate education at an institution that is active and supportive in matters pertaining to working conditions, gender equality and diversity as well as study environment.
• Work and study in Stockholm, close to nature and the water.
• Help to relocate and be settled in Sweden and at KTH.
• The hosting research group is leading technology development in Microwave and THz microsystems enabled by silicon micromachining. Major projects and applications are in telecommunication, industrial and car radar, space instrumentation and environmental sensing. The Ph.D. students of this research group have received a total of six IEEE Best Paper Awards and four IEEE Graduate Fellowships in recent years, and the main supervisor is an ERC Consolidator Grant holder. Research facilities comprise a class-100 clean-room with state of the art micromachining equipment, as well as microwave characterization equipment up to 750 GHz, including a 4-port VNA and fully automated sub-THz antenna measurement facilities.

Admission requirements

To be admitted to postgraduate education (Chapter 7, 39 § Swedish Higher Education Ordinance), the applicant must have basic eligibility in accordance with either of the following:

• passed a second cycle degree (for example a master’s degree),
• completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 second-cycle higher education credits, or
• acquired, in some other way within or outside the country, substantially equivalent knowledge

In addition to the above, there is also a mandatory requirement for English equivalent to English B/6, read more here

Selection

In order to succeed as a doctoral student at KTH you need to be goal oriented and persevering in your work. During the selection process, candidates will be assessed upon their ability to:

• independently pursue his or her work
• collaborate with others,
• have a professional approach and
• analyse and work with complex issues.
• The ideal candidate has a background in RF/microwave systems and/or micromachining, some clean-room experience, some experience with microwave design/simulation software, some experience with RF measurements, some basic knowledge in telecommunication systems.

After the qualification requirements, great emphasis will be placed on personal competency. 

Target degree: Doctoral degree

Information regarding admission and employment

Only those admitted to postgraduate education may be employed as a doctoral student. The total length of employment may not be longer than what corresponds to full-time doctoral education in four years ‘ time. An employed doctoral student can, to a limited extent (maximum 20%), perform certain tasks within their role, e.g. training and administration. A new position as a doctoral student is for a maximum of one year, and then the employment may be renewed for a maximum of two years at a time.

Union representatives

You will find contact information for union representatives on KTH’s website.

Doctoral section (Students’ union on KTH Royal Institute of Technology)

You will find contact information for doctoral section on the section’s website.

Application

Apply for the position and admission through KTH’s recruitment system. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that the application is complete in accordance with the instructions in the advertisement.

Applications must be received at the last closing date at midnight, CET/CEST (Central European Time/entral European Summer Time).

Applications must include the following elements:

• CV including your relevant professional experience and knowledge.
• Application letter with a brief description of why you want to pursue research studies, about what your academic interests are and how they relate to your previous studies and future goals. (Maximum 2 pages long)
• Copies of diplomas and grades from previous university studies and certificates of fulfilled language requirements (see above). Translations into English or Swedish if the original document is not issued in one of these languages.Copies of originals must be certified.
• Representative publications or technical reports. For longer documents, please provide a summary (abstract) and a web link to the full text.

Other information

Striving towards gender equality, diversity and equal conditions is both a question of quality for KTH and a given part of our values.

For information about processing of personal data in the recruitment process please read here.

We firmly decline all contact with staffing and recruitment agencies and job ad salespersons.

Disclaimer: In case of discrepancy between the Swedish original and the English translation of the job announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.

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