Are you interested in pursuing a PhD in Applied Mathematics? We have a vacancy for a PhD who will work within the new project “MeMo – Memristive models for faster material design cycles towards applications.”

As part of this PhD program, you will work with differential equations for models provided from material science that describe memristors, new elements of electric circuits. You will perform uncertainty quantification on these models to help material scientists in the development of new materials for the emerging field of neuromorphic computing. Numerical methods to adaptively solve the occurring ordinary differential equations by adaptive time stepping should be explored, together with a control strategy to monitor the time step size and model errors. The mathematical part of the project includes modelling, numerical analysis, and numerical simulations.

During the project, we aim to publish a number of research articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and conference proceedings, which together will form the basis of a thesis leading to a PhD degree at the University of Groningen.

This PhD position is part of the Groningen Cognitive Systems and Materials Center (CogniGron) and Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. The position will be embedded in the Computational and Numerical Mathematics group under the supervision of Dr. Julian Koellermeier and in collaboration with the group of Prof. Tamalika Banerjee from the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials.

You will work in the interdisciplinary environment of the CogniGron research centre. At CogniGron we continue to do fundamental research into self-learning materials and systems for cognitive computing – computing that has the ability to learn and to handle complex challenges in a highly efficient way, inspired by how the brain works. Our mission: to find a new blueprint for future-proof computing. We offer a vibrant atmosphere within CogniGron with plenty of opportunities to interact with other PhDs from various disciplines. Further you will be given opportunities to develop different skills during their program:

• training programs that strengthens your academic profile including following different courses, attending workshops and learning programing skills
• participation at CogniGron@work weekly meetings
• publishing and presenting your work in network and international conferences.

• andidates must hold a Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics (or equivalent)
• a solid background in numerical methods for ordinary differential equations and numerical analysis is necessary
• knowledge of uncertainty quantification and material science, specifically neuromorphic computing and memristors is beneficial
• candidates should have experience with scientific programming (e.g., using MATLAB, python, or C++)
• good communication and writing skills in English.

Fixed-term contract: 12 months.

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

• a salary of € 2,541 in the first year to a maximum of € 3,247 gross per month in the final year (PhD salary scale), based on a full-time position
• a holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income
• an 8.3% year-end bonus
• a full-time position (1.0 FTE). The position is for four years and is available as soon as possible. First you will 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 whether a successful completion of the PhD thesis within the contract period is to be expected. A PhD training programme is part of the agreement and the successful candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School of Science and Engineering of the Faculty.

The conditions of employment are available at the University of Groningen website under Human Resources: https://www.rug.nl/about-us/work-with-us/

The intended starting date is to be decided in agreement with the candidate, but as soon as possible, e.g., in September 2023