PhD Researcher will be helping to lead a €2.2 million project on ultra-thin photonic crystal sails for next-generation space travel -- the project is in collaboration with the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. Our lab is currently working at the cutting edge of nanotechnology, nanophotonics, applied physics and space travel by developing ultra-light sails which are unlike any material found in nature or made in science to date.

In 2016 Breakthrough Prize Foundation announced a $100 million initiative to realize microchip satellite for unmanned interstellar travel. By attaching these microchips to low-mass sails which are meters large and only nanometers thick, these satellites could be accelerated to ultra-fast speeds with lasers. This type of sail material would allow us to shorten times to Alpha Centauri, our nearest star, from 10,000 years to only 20 years – completely changing humanity’s reach within the universe. These unique capabilities that novel sail materials could open, but it’s also recognized by leading experts around the world that the largest challenge will be developing the lightsail. Why is that? Well, if one looks at the microchip, it need to be made smaller in x, y and z – which is in line with the conventional miniaturization we’ve been doing over the last half century. But the lightsails stand as a unique challenge because it's the only nanoscale components which needs to be expanded to meter scales. Our lab has been pioneering metamaterials with extreme aspect ratio putting us in a unique position to bring this technology within reach.

At the TU Delft, Netherlands, we can design and produce these suspended structures at the centimeter-scale for the first time. EARS will push the limits of nanotechnology further with world-class experimental system. This system will allow us to allow us to overcome conventional obstacles in this nanotechnology and open a new regime of light-matter interaction. While optical levitation won the 2018 Nobel Prize for revolutionizing physics and engineering, it has so far been limited to the nanoscale objects. The lightsail materials I’m proposing in EARS will allow us perform the 1st optical levitation microstructures that are 100,000x more massive than anything levitated with coherent light to date. Photonic crystals sails will make this possible, and will push the boundaries of material science, nanophotonic design and structural engineering.

Strongly Required:

• background in Experimental Physics, Engineering, Material Science, or Photonics
• experience with optical measurements
• excellent scientific communication skills
• interest in space science and exploration
• experience with FDTD simulations

Beneficial to have:

• experience with nanotechnology & nanofabrication
• strong writing & presentation skills
• enthusiasm for travel (California, etc.)

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 Mechanical Engineering

From chip to ship. From machine to human being. From idea to solution. Driven by a deep-rooted desire to understand our environment and discover its underlying mechanisms, research and education at the ME faculty focusses on fundamental understanding, design, production including application and product improvement, materials, processes and (mechanical) systems.

ME is a dynamic and innovative faculty with high-tech lab facilities and international reach. It’s a large faculty but also versatile, so we can often make unique connections by combining different disciplines. This is reflected in ME’s outstanding, state-of-the-art education, which trains students to become responsible and socially engaged engineers and scientists. We translate our knowledge and insights into solutions to societal issues, contributing to a sustainable society and to the development of prosperity and well-being. That is what unites us in pioneering research, inspiring education and (inter)national cooperation.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. Do you want to experience working at our faculty? These videos will introduce you to some of our researchers and their work.