- are you a passionate researcher?
- do you have a master degree in Physics, Nanoscience or Materials Science?
- are you motivated to work in a diverse and multidisciplinary team?
- would you like to help this team solve fundamental questions that can lead to more sustainable technologies?
- Have you obtained your master degree with an experimental project?

If so, you may be the person we are seeking for a PhD project supervised by Beatriz Noheda at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, as part of the European training network TOPOCOM (“Topological solitons in ferroics for unconventional computing”).

Project description:
The project is experimental in nature and aims to design, fabricate and characterize thin films of ferroelectric materials with well controlled topological defects, in order to harness them as extremely efficient memory devices.

This is one of the 11 PhD projects of the European program TOPOCOM, that joints experts from academic institutions and industry, from Norway, Germany, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands, to work on ferroelectric and ferromagnetic materials, both from the theory and experimental side. The network will ensure excellent training by world-leading scientists and different partner companies, close interactions with other PhD candidates who share your research interest, and a stimulating work environment. Working as team, we will find materials-based solutions in the field of unconventional computing. For more information on TOPOCOM see at https://www.topocom.eu

Organisation
The selected candidate will be supervised by Prof. B. Noheda and will be part of her group (Nanostructures of Functional Oxides) at the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, and the CogniGron center of the University of Groningen. The University of Groningen, located in the north of The Netherlands, enjoys an international reputation as one of the leading research universities in Europe. The group is highly diverse and international and its members have backgrounds in physics, chemistry, nanoscience and materials science, with a highly collaborative research atmosphere.

- Master’s degree in Physics, Nanoscience or Materials Science
- having performed an experimental master project
- good command of English (oral and written)
- excellent communication and collaboration skills
- applicants should not have a doctoral degree at the date of the recruitment
- due to the EU mobility rules, we cannot recruit applicants that have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the Netherlands for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before the start of employment.

Fixed-term contract: 48 months.

We offer you in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

- a salary of € 2,770 gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of € 3,539 gross per month (based on fulltime employment) in the fourth and final year
- a full-time position (1.0 FTE)
- a holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income
- an 8.3% end-of-year bonus and participation in a pension scheme for employees.

The successful candidate will first be offered a temporary position of one year with the option of renewal for another three years. Prolongation of the contract is contingent on sufficient progress in the first year to indicate that successful completion of the PhD thesis within the next three years is to be expected. A PhD training program is part of the agreement and the successful candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School of Science and Engineering.

Starting date: February 2024 or June 2024