Postdoctoral Research Associate Positions in Flight Physics of High-Altitude Communications Platforms and Atmospheric Turbulence Imperial College London in United Kingdom

Imperial College London is advertising two 2-year postdoctoral research associate (PDRA) positions in the LoCA Lab / Aeroelastics group on flight physics of high-altitude communications platforms. The project is part of ARIA’s Enduring Atmospheric Platforms programme and focuses on unlocking a new wireless communications layer in the stratosphere using high-altitude pseudo-satellites (HAPS).

The research is computational and interdisciplinary, combining aerospace engineering, optimization, machine learning, turbulence modelling, computational fluid dynamics, and large-scale simulation/optimisation. One role focuses on co-design of a HAPS fleet for wireless communications, including sizing, mission planning, fleet design, and operation protocols for a reconfigurable stratospheric communications network. The other role focuses on atmospheric turbulence forecasting methods for HAPS, including meteorological-scale simulation, synthetic ground truth generation, and aeroelastic/vehicle-level modelling.

Applicants should have an aeronautical engineering degree or a strong research background in CFD, plus advanced simulation and software skills, research-level optimisation experience, and strong teamwork ability. The post specifically highlights excellent coding and data/software skills.

The positions are based at Imperial College London in London, UK. Interested candidates should email Prof Rafael Palacios with a full CV and short cover letter, using “PDRA HAPS” in the subject line. No formal deadline is given, but the page notes that appointments are expected to start by October 2026.