Are you interested in a project at the interface between condensed matter physics, materials science, and neuromorphic computing? Would you like to make a fundamental and societal impact with your research? In this project, you will work with neuromorphic computing, a way to do computations with hardware that mimics the brain architecture.

All-Optical switching (AOS) of magnetisation has been demonstrated as a radically new approach to write magnetic bits at an unprecedented picosecond timescale and with low switching energies. Recently, we have exploited multi-shot, helicity-dependent AOS and realised opto-magnetic synapses in CoPt films: non-volatile, magnetic memory elements continually adaptable using laser pulses. Key challenges for future neuromorphic and in-memory computing are to develop material systems in which AOS can lead to multi-state switching, can be scaled down to nanometre dimensions, and can be integrated into a photonic network while still retaining the energy efficiency of AOS. Ultimately, this research may lead to breaking down existing computational barriers, paving the way to new scientific discoveries. Although fundamental in nature, our research may, in the long term, stimulate the adoption of neuromorphic hardware for societal applications. You will receive training and perform research and will be part of an interdisciplinary effort involving collaborations with the University of Twente, Technical University Eindhoven, MPI-Halle, Uppsala University, VSPARTICLE and Forschungszentrum Jülich. You will publish the results in leading journals and will also have the chance to participate in national and international schools and conferences.

• You are an excellent and highly motivated candidate with an MSc degree in Experimental Physics or equivalent qualification.
• Good communication skills and fluency in written and spoken English are required.

Fixed-term contract: 1,5 years, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, your contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4-year contract) or 3.5 years (5-year contract).

• We will give you a temporary employment contract (1.0 FTE) of 1,5 years, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, your contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4-year contract).
• You will receive a starting salary of €2,770 gross per month based on a 38-hour working week, which will increase to €3,539 from the fourth year onwards (salary scale P).
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus.
• You will be able to use our Dual Career and Family Support Service. The Dual Career Programme assists your partner via support, tools, and resources to improve their chances of independently finding employment in the Netherlands. Our Family Support Service helps you and your partner feel welcome and at home by providing customised assistance in navigating local facilities, schools, and amenities. Also take a look at our support for international staff page to discover all our services for international employees.
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20.

Work and science require good employment practices. This is reflected in Radboud University's primary and secondary employment conditions. You can make arrangements for the best possible work-life balance with flexible working hours, various leave arrangements and working from home. You are also able to compose part of your employment conditions yourself, for example, exchange income for extra leave days and receive a reimbursement for your sports subscription. And of course, we offer a good pension plan. You are given plenty of room and responsibility to develop your talents and realise your ambitions. Therefore, we provide various training and development schemes.

The group Spectroscopy of Surfaces and Interfaces (Rasing), in close collaboration with the group Ultrafast Spectroscopy of Correlated Materials (Kimel), conducts both experimental and theoretical research aimed at understanding ultrafast processes in magnetic materials. Your research will be embedded in interdisciplinary research on energy-efficient computing funded by the Dutch government through a KIC and NWA programme (NL-ECO). In addition, the research benefits from existing international collaborations (EU-NIMFEIA project on magnonic reservoir computing, EU-COMRAD project on ultrafast spintronics, EU-3DMAGiC project on nanoscale topological spin textures). The main supervisors for this PhD position are Dr Johan Mentink and Prof. Theo Rasing, in close collaboration with Dr Dima Afanasiev and Prof. Alexey Kimel.