The University of Luxembourg is an international research university with a distinctly multilingual and interdisciplinary character. The University was founded in 2003 and counts more than 6,700 students and more than 2,000 employees from around the world. The University’s faculties and interdisciplinary centres focus on research in the areas of Computer Science and ICT Security, Materials Science, European and International Law, Finance and Financial Innovation, Education, Contemporary and Digital History. In addition, the University focuses on cross-disciplinary research in the areas of Data Modelling and Simulation as well as Health and System Biomedicine. Times Higher Education ranks the University of Luxembourg #3 worldwide for its “international outlook,” #20 in the Young University Ranking 2021 and among the top 250 universities worldwide.
The Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine (FSTM) contributes multidisciplinary expertise in the fields of Mathematics, Physics, Engineering, Computer Science, Life Sciences and Medicine. Through its dual mission of teaching and research, the FSTM seeks to generate and disseminate knowledge and train new generations of responsible citizens, in order to better understand, explain and advance society and environment we live in.
The University of Luxembourg (UL) invites applications for the following vacancy at the Faculty of Science, Technology and Medicine (FSTM), Department of Physics and Materials Science (DPhyMS), Experimental Soft Matter Physics (ESMP) group: Doctoral candidate (PhD student) in the field of soft matter physics applied in robotics.
You will be a member of the ESMP group at DPhyMS, FSTM, working under the supervision of the group leader Jan Lagerwall in close collaboration with the Automation & Robotics Research Group (ARG), led by Holger Voos, at the UL Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT). You will be refining our recent method for making Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Elastomer (CLCE) sheets and fibres, adding new shapes like hollow spheres and tori and integrating them in strain and force sensing set-ups based on the mechanochromic response of CLCEs, i.e., their colour changes predictably and reversibly in response to mechanical strain. You will then incorporate the sensors in soft robotic arms and grippers mounted on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), enabling real-time monitoring of the operation of the UAV as it manipulates objects using the arm/gripper. Your tasks range from preparation of CLCEs in unconventional shapes and large size, to the development of electronic set-ups (based on, e.g., Arduino or Raspberry Pi) for illuminating and optically monitoring each CLCE, to writing code (e.g. Python) for real-time translation of the optical signals into strain and force data to be sent to the robot. To achieve this and to integrate the sensors in the UAVs, you will be working in close collaboration with two PhD candidates from ARG. While being rooted in soft matter physics/chemistry and photonics, your part of the project thus branches into mechanical, computer and robotics engineering.
This project calls for an open character with curiosity across discipline boundaries, combining the problem solving mindset of an engineer with a physicist’s fascination for science and desire for in-depth understanding. If this is you, we warmly encourage you to apply even if you feel that you only partially meet the criteria in terms of background and expertise. We expect you to have some of the required background, and a motivation to acquire the missing parts during the first year of the project.
Offer...
The yearly gross salary for every PhD at the UL is EUR 40952 (full time)
Applications should include:
Please apply ONLINE formally through the HR system. Applications by email will not be considered.
The University of Luxembourg embraces inclusion and diversity as key values. We are fully committed to removing any discriminatory barrier related to gender, and not only, in recruitment and career progression of our staff.
For further information please see the website of the ESMP group, www.lcsoftmatter.com, or contact its leader, Prof. Jan Lagerwall, jan.lagerwall@uni.lu
Read Full Description