University of Antwerp doctoral scholarship

University of Antwerp (Belgium) is advertising a full-time doctoral scholarship holder position in the Department of Computer Science, within the IDLab-UAntwerp research group embedded in imec. The project focuses on resilient communications for future 6G networks, with a specific emphasis on energy optimization, wireless communications, cellular network resilience, and network energy modeling.

The PhD research contributes to the imec.prospect Resilient Communications (ResCom) project, which aims to improve connectivity and service continuity during crises such as power outages, jamming, backhaul failure, core network failure, and extended energy provision failure. The selected candidate will develop novel mechanisms to keep cellular base stations operating as long as possible during long-term energy shortages, including graceful shutdown strategies and the possible use of renewable energy sources to extend network lifetime.

The work will involve analytical modeling, optimization, simulation, and experimental validation. The research environment includes access to IDLab-UAntwerp’s infrastructure such as GPU labs, software-defined radios, programmable beamformers, an AI compute cluster, and a newly deployed 6G Perceptive Radio Lab. The position is supervised by Prof. Jeroen Famaey and involves collaboration with researchers at IDLab-UAntwerp and industrial partners.

Applicants should hold or soon obtain a master’s degree in Telecommunications Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Informatics, Computer Science, or a related field. Strong results are expected, along with solid knowledge of wireless communications, signal processing, programming in C/C++, Python, and/or Matlab, and good English proficiency (C1). Experience with energy-efficient communications, optimization, machine learning, SDR hardware/software, or renewable energy integration is considered an advantage.

This is a doctoral scholarship, not a standard salaried job. The scholarship is initially for one year and may be renewed annually up to four years in total after positive evaluation. The monthly amount follows the University of Antwerp doctoral scholarship scale, and additional benefits include eco vouchers, internet and teleworking allowances, bicycle allowance or public transport reimbursement, and access to doctoral school training.

Applications must be submitted via the University of Antwerp online job platform by 2026-09-28 (midnight Brussels time). Required attachments include degree certificates, transcripts, motivation letter, academic CV, English proficiency certificate, and at least two references.