This PhD position is within the 6thSense project, which is funded through the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Networks. 6thSense addresses the fundamental challenges of joint communication and sensing (JCAS) through an innovative and interdisciplinary program. In a concerted effort, the findings of 6thSense will be tailored to key 6G use cases to boost Europe’s position in the global communications market both from a talent and a technological perspective.

Integrating communication and sensing is a major challenge because it demands fundamental changes to current communication systems. While spectrum sharing between radar and communication is well studied, leveraging advanced communication capabilities of 6G radios for accurate sensing as well as their integration in large networks are largely unexplored, and the fundamental limits of distributed sensing are not yet well understood. As the first Doctoral Network (DN) on JCAS, the primary goal of 6thSense is to train PhD students to co-create novel solutions to overcoming the fundamental challenges of JCAS. Specifically, the PhD students design high-accuracy sensing alongside high-speed communication under stringent scalability, privacy, security, and resource constraints. By focusing on tuning JCAS towards the particular mix of requirements of each key 6G vertical the PhD students enable unprecedented capabilities for intelligent networks to provide extremely high data rates as well as high-resolution sensing of the surrounding environment.

For this PhD position "TinyML-Empowered Joint Communication and Sensing for 6G" within TU Delft, you will have the opportunities to design self-optimising algorithms for allocation of on-board computational and communication resources for JCAS; you will employ model compression techniques such as knowledge distillation to create performant and low-complexity models for embedded devices; you will implement and evaluate the proposed solutions using facilities of the Embedded AI lab at TU Delft.

Your home base will be the Embedded Systems group of TU Delft, where you will be supervised by Dr. Qing Wang.

Required profile: Computer Science, Telecommunications engineering, Embedded systems, or equivalent disciplines

Desirable skills/interests: Deep learning, tiny machine learning, TensorFlow lite micro, embedded system, wireless communications (the applicant should be proficient in at least two of the skills)

Conditions of international mobility of researchers:

Researchers are required to undertake trans-national mobility (i.e., move from one country to another) when taking up the appointment. At the time of selection by the TU Delft, the candidate must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the Netherlands for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the recruitment. Short stays, such as holidays, are not taken into account.

Are you ready to challenge yourself? We're seeking candidates who have, or are about to receive, a Master-of-Science degree in a relevant computer science discipline. Proficiency in English is essential, as you'll collaborate within a diverse, international community. For more details on our admission requirements, please visit https://www.tudelft.nl/onderwijs/opleidingen/phd/admission. We'll evaluate based on your academic record, interviews, and possibly assignments. While a strong background in the field is crucial, what matters as well is your creative flair, motivation, and above all, your passion for comprehensive research!

Doing a PhD at TU Delft requires English proficiency at a certain level to ensure that the candidate is able to communicate and interact well, participate in English-taught Doctoral Education courses, and write scientific articles and a final thesis. For more details please check the Graduate Schools Admission Requirements.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from € 2770 per month in the first year to € 3539 in the fourth year. As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged. 

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

Delft University of Technology

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) brings together three scientific disciplines. Combined, they reinforce each other and are the driving force behind the technology we all use in our daily lives. Technology such as the electricity grid, which our faculty is helping to make completely sustainable and future-proof. At the same time, we are developing the chips and sensors of the future, whilst also setting the foundations for the software technologies to run on this new generation of equipment – which of course includes AI. Meanwhile we are pushing the limits of applied mathematics, for example mapping out disease processes using single cell data, and using mathematics to simulate gigantic ash plumes after a volcanic eruption. In other words: there is plenty of room at the faculty for ground-breaking research. We educate innovative engineers and have excellent labs and facilities that underline our strong international position. In total, more than 1000 employees and 4,000 students work and study in this innovative environment.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science.