ICFO offers PhD-fellowship positions in Industrial Track to well-qualified graduate students, who wish to obtain a doctoral degree in cutting-edge research fields of ICFO.

The positions are offered in the scope of the FLIGHT Program, a MCSA-COFUND doctoral program explicitly focused on intersectoral research training in collaboration with Industrial Partners.

Our PhD Fellowship Program welcomes applications from individuals with a degree in a field of mathematics, science or engineering related to the ICFO research activities.

Our PhD-program brings together top-level training and teaching for young scientists, benefiting from the extensive course offerings of local universities and focused instruction by ICFO professors, in a stimulating, international and interdisciplinary environment. PhD-students have the opportunity to take advantage of our network of excellence, consisting in partners of national and international research institutes and universities, as well as industrial partners in the field.

Selected PhD candidates will join the Industrial PhD Track, developing projects in close collaboration with industrial partners. Fellows will undertake secondments of 6–18 months at the partner organizations, ensuring full immersion in both academic and industrial settings throughout their fellowship.

Research Projects Available

The following projects are open for this call:

IT008: How do crops avoid photodamage under the sun?

–          Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Nicoletta Liguori (ICFO) and Dr. Marta da Silva (IRTA)

–          Objective: The project aims to investigate how crop species and varieties balance the use of sunlight for growth while minimizing the risk of photodamage. The research will involve applying state-of-the-art biochemical and spectroscopic techniques to study photoprotection mechanisms across diverse crop species and varieties. The objective is to gain molecular-level insights into the strategies employed by crops to ensure efficient photoprotection and maintain biodiversity.

–          Candidate Requirements:

Essential:

·         Recent graduate with a degree in Biology, Biotechnology or Chemistry with experience with protein purification or protein biochemistry.

·         Experience with research on plants or photosynthetic organisms considered a plus.

·         Experience in spectroscopic characterization is desirable.

·         Familiarity with ultrafast spectroscopy will be considered an advantage.

·         Strong motivation and interest in the research area.

IT009: FPGA-Based Hardware Acceleration for Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) and Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) Emulation

–          Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Valerio Pruneri (ICFO) and Dr. Pau Gomez Kabelka (LuxQuanta)

–          Objective: Develop FPGA-based PQC codes to strengthen the classical communication channels of LuxQuanta’s QKD transceivers portfolio. This includes also developing a FPGA-based emulation of the optical transmission layers used for QKD, a versatile toolchain for optical simulation and verification.

–          Candidate Requirements:

Essential:

·         Master’s degree in Physics, Telecommunication, Computer Science, Electronics, or related fields.

·         Master’s thesis in Experimental Quantum Physics or High-Performance Computing.

·         Programming expertise in Python and C.

·         Hands-on experience with hardware programming, e.g., microcontrollers (Arduino), Microprocessors (Raspberry Pi).

·         Strong interest in FPGA and proficiency in programming RTL languages (e.g., Verilog, VHDL).

·         Strong English communication skills (spoken and written).

IT010: Development of Applications and Devices Based on Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs)

–          Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Valerio Pruneri (ICFO) and Dr. Norbert Kerwien (ZEISS)

–          Objective: Collaborate on the design, fabrication, and characterization of applications and devices that incorporate photonic integrated circuits (PICs), leveraging ICFO’s burgeoning infrastructure in this area and ZEISS’ industry-leading expertise in this and related fields. The specific technical focus of the project will be tuned to the candidate’s experience, but will involve strong elements of optical design and will result in the development of devices or components that are of common interest to both Zeiss and ICFO. We aim to focus on sensing applications, developing advanced sensors that utilize PIC technology to improve detection capabilities in areas such as environmental monitoring and healthcare diagnostics.

–          Candidate Requirements:

Essential:

·         Master’s degree in Physics, Photonics, Engineering, or related fields.

·         Strong understanding of optics and photonics.

·         Demonstrated programming skills, preferably in Python.

·         Independent, structured working style with excellent organizational skills.

·         Open-mindedness, creativity, and passion for innovation and technology.

·         Strong English communication skills (spoken and written).

Preferred:

·         Background in integrated photonics.

·         Experience in design, simulation, and/or testing of photonic integrated circuits.

·         Hands-on experience in photonics design tools, e.g., Ansys Lumerical

·         Previous academic/industrial work experience or publications.

FLIGHT has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 101081441.

HOW TO APPLY:

We look forward to receiving your applications. For applications and further information about eligibility requirements, conditions and selection process please visit:

https://jobs.icfo.eu/?detail=960

Deadline for applications: January 30, 2025.

Join Us and Shape the Future

This is your chance to join a globally recognized research institute and contribute to transformative advancements in photonics, quantum technologies, and beyond. Take the leap and apply to the FLIGHT Fellowship Program today!