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NEWS22 Jan 2024Newsopportunities

9 PhD positions available in Electronic-Based Systems research

CRYSTALLINE

The mission of CRYSTALLINE (eleCtRonic-based sYSTems reseArch exceLLence IN Europe) hosted at the Silicon Austria Labs is to train early-stage researchers (ESRs) as future leaders in Electronic Based Systems (EBSs) research. Our program has been designed for a duration of 60 months, where the individual ESRs will be expected to finish their PhD within 48 months. We will call for 2 cohorts of a maximum of 9 ESRs each, amounting to a total of 18 positions.

With the CRYSTALLINE program co-funded by the MSCA-COFUND action, the SAL-DC will be able to further improve on its critical mass and its impact on EBS research at the highest level of scientific excellence. It will provide a boost in terms of brain-gain by attracting international talents to become part of the SAL network, where they can benefit from our SAL environment that unites academic excellence with industrial entrepreneurship. All candidates selected via CRYSTALLINE will become members of the SAL-DC.

The first call is now open till 29 March 2024.

Research Areas

Research in CRYSTALLINE is organized in alignment with the five main research foci at SAL:

  • Embedded systems address the trends of EBSs becoming more intel­li­gent, distributed, energy effi­cient and sustain­able. Special attention is laid at SAL on the growth of AI in the embedded computing continuum and offering dependable, secure as well as resilient AI solutions in fields like computer vision, anomaly detection, or diagnostics and reasoning. For our efforts on secure and efficient computation engineering, we focus on both soft- and hardware.
  • Intelligent wireless systems address research questions mainly focused on wire­less commu­ni­ca­tion and radar tech­nolo­gies in the radio frequency spec­trum from MHz to the very high GHz range. RF systems provide the connec­tion over the air for wire­less commu­ni­ca­tions systems (incl. RFID, WPAN, LPWAN, 5G/6G). One of the main foci is to develop analog and mixed signal circuits for high bandwidth and data rate communications towards 6G communications. Further addressed research challenges in these areas are broad­band connec­tivity for mobile devices (such as smartphones, tablets and laptops), wire­less “machine-to-machine” commu­ni­ca­tion (M2M) for connecting billions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, deployment of wire­less sensor networks in indus­trial appli­ca­tions, and radar based environmental sensing concepts.
  • Microsystems aim at developing beyond state-of-the-art technologies for novel micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) and MEMS devices, covering development steps from design and proof-of-concept to product prototypes. Focus is especially laid on piezoelectric MEMS, thin films, integrated photonics, magnetic microsystems, as well as advanced microfabrication of MEMS sensors and actuators at SAL cleanroom facilities.
  • Sensor systems encompass developing new sensor modalities from design, materials, manufacturing to applications. Challenges arise in finding the optimum combination out of a multitude of sensors, supported by intel­li­gent algo­rithms and recent devel­op­ments, in order to expand the hetero­ge­neous inte­gra­tion of smart sensor systems for various appli­ca­tions.
  • Power elec­tronics aim at new and more powerful solu­tions for all types of elec­tric energy converters in all power classes, from the system and control design, over switching struc­tures to inte­gra­tion methods and construc­tion elements in new tech­nolo­gies.

Within these five research areas, SAL covers the entire span from fundamental research (see e.g., SAL-UNI labs) to propelling academic ideas and practice together with industrial partners to a market-ready level (see e.g., list of selected projects).

This perspective is unique in the sense that our ESRs and experts can pursue academic research excellence, while still learning about industry demands which enables them to connect ideas to market demands and thus future funding opportunities. Being able to profit from all these options and parties in the SAL network is a unique asset in terms of career planning that the future CRYSTALLINE ESRs will profit from.

PhD Projects

Working conditions

The selected candidates will be offered a full-time PhD position. Depending on the chosen research topic, the host organization and thus the physical location of the main work place will be on one of the SAL sites in Linz, Graz and Villach.

Working environment

  • high-quality workplaces, well-equipped laboratories, up-to-date technical equipment, and high-end cleanroom 
  • family-friendly infrastructure (e.g., diaper changing stations, play areas, high chairs at the cafeteria)
  • sites accessible via public transport
  • buildings generally accessible for people with reduced mobility

Terms of employment

  • full-time contract for 38.5 hours/week employment with flexible working hours
  • employment contract in full alignment with national regulations and provisions concerning social security coverage, pension, maternity/parental leave, health and accident insurance, unemployment insurance, or annual leave
  • position endowed with a gross annual salary of € 53,578 (approximate annual net salary € 37,190)
  • food allowance of up to €80.- per month
  • generally treated as regular staff, i.e., same home office services, participation in social events hosted by SAL, access to SAL training such as German language courses or the health promotion program Vital4SAL, 
  • organizational support for international applicants in terms of housing service, resident permit, etc.

Terms of CRYSTALLINE

  • Participation in CRYSTALLINE is laid out for a duration of 4 years, with the expectation of gaining a PhD at the end of this period.
  • Successful admission to the PhD program of the partner university and to the SAL-DC required
  • After one year, a first assessment will be held in order to evaluate the achieved progress and rate the scientific eligibility of the candidate with respect to the acquired research position. If successfully passed, the candidate stays within CRYSTALLINE for the remaining time period.
  • ESRs are required to publish in scientifically high-ranked conferences and journals for successful graduation.
  • ESRs have to conduct two- to six months secondment(s) at academic and intersectoral industrial partner organizations.
  • ESRs are expected to contribute in communication activities to share their research results with the general public and aside from their scientific community.

Application Process

Source