Call for applicants:

15 PhD positions in the EU Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Project MINTS (MIllimeter-wave NeTworking and Sensing for Beyond 5G)

Applicants are invited for 15 PhD positions (“Early Stage Researchers”, ESRs) to be funded by the Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network “MINTS – MIllimeter-wave NeTworking and Sensing for Beyond 5G” within the Horizon 2020 Programme of the European Commission.

MINTS provides a unique system-oriented training to 15 ESRs, nurturing a new generation of innovators thanks to internationally recognized researchers with broad experience in research, training, and participation in EU, national, and industry-sponsored projects. With the intensive involvement of industrial beneficiaries and partner organisations (Nokia, NEC, Sony, NI, IMEC, Proximus, Italtel), the ESRs will obtain in-depth knowledge and skills in mmWave networks and its key applications. This interdisciplinary and intersectoral training is an essential component of each ESR’s PhD. The 15 ESRs are distributed over 7 beneficiaries in 6 countries: KU Leuven (Belgium), IMDEA Networks Institute (Spain), TU Darmstadt (Germany), NEC (Germany), University of Padua (Italy), Lund University (Sweden), and Nokia Bell Labs (Ireland). Additionally, the consortium is completed by 7 partner organisations: IMEC (Belgium), Proximus (Belgium), NI (Germany), Carlos III University of Madrid (Spain), Italtel (Italy), Maynooth University (Ireland), and Sony (Sweden).

Each of the 15 ESRs will be working towards a PhD degree, supported by a carefully chosen supervisory team that maximizes both scientific excellence as well as interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaboration. The 15 MINTS ESRs will not only receive state-of-the-art science/technology training but will also benefit from a unique soft-skills training programme. The interdisciplinary and inter-domain training will make MINTS ESRs highly employable in various industries (such as the EU telecommunication vendors and operators Nokia, Eriksson, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, and Vodafone), academia, or public government bodies.

Key dates

July 21 2019: Launch of 15 ESR Positions recruitment
Oct 31 2019: Deadline for on-line application
Nov 30 2019: Circulation list “preselected candidates”
Dec 2019: MINTS Recruitment Event (exact date to be decided)
Dec 2019: Circulation list “recruited MINTS ESRs” (within one week after the Recruitment Event)
Mar 1 2020: Targeted starting date for ESR contracts

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Key background info

Recruitment

MINTS wishes to reflect the diversity of society and thus welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background. Recruitment targets ESR backgrounds in:

Wireless communication
Mobile Networks
Signal Processing
Electronic Engineering
Computer Science

In total 15 ESRs will be recruited that will work at the 7 beneficiaries across Europe.

We expect that applicants hold a university degree that qualifies them for doctoral studies at their recruiting organization. Solid written and oral communication skills in English are prerequisites of any successful application (typically IELTS min. 7, TOEFL internet-based min. 90 or similar level as proven by other tests). Every applicant can apply for up to three ESR positions (first, second, third choice)

Career Stage

Early Stage Researcher (ESR) or 0-4 yrs (Post Graduate)

Benefits and salary

The successful candidates will receive an attractive salary in accordance with the MSCA regulations for ESRs. The fellowship will consist of a competitive salary. The exact (net) salary will be confirmed upon appointment and is dependent on local tax regulations and on the country correction factor (to allow for the difference in cost of living in the different EU Member States). The salary includes a living allowance, a mobility allowance and a family allowance (if married). The guaranteed PhD funding covered by the training network is for 36 months (i.e. EC funding, additional funding is possible, depending on the local Supervisor, and in accordance with the regular PhD time in the country of origin). In addition to their individual scientific projects, all fellows will benefit from further continuing education, which includes internships and secondments, a variety of training modules as well as transferable skills courses and active participation in workshops and conferences.

On-line Recruitment Procedure

All applications proceed through the on-line recruitment portal on the b5g-mints.eu website. Candidates apply electronically for one to maximum three positions and indicate their preference. Candidates provide all requested information including a detailed CV – Europass format obligatory – and motivation letter. During the registration, applicants will need to prove that they are eligible (cf. ESR definition, mobility criteria, and English language proficiency). The deadline for the on-line registration is 31 October 2019.

The MINTS Recruitment Committee selects between 20 and maximum of 30 candidates for the Recruitment Event which will take place in Leuven (Belgium) (Dec 2019). The selected candidates provide a 20-minute presentation and are interviewed by the Recruitment Committee. Candidates will be given a domain-relevant peer-reviewed paper (prior to the recruitment event) by their prioritised Supervisor and will be asked questions about this paper during the interview to check if the candidate has the right background/profile for the ESR position. Prior to the recruitment event, skype interviews between the Supervisors and the candidates are recommended, along with on-line personality tests. In order to facilitate their travel, selected candidates (from outside Belgium) receive a reimbursement up to 500 euros (paid by the prioritised Supervisor). In order to avoid delays in reimbursements, candidates are asked to keep all invoices and tickets (cf. train, plane, hotel…). The final decision on who to recruit is communicated within one week after the Recruitment Event (Dec 2019). The selected ESRs are to start their research as quickly as possible (target: 1 March 2020).

Applicants need to fully respect three eligibility criteria (to demonstrated in the Europass cv):

Early-stage researchers (ESR) are those who are, at the time of recruitment by the host, in the first four years (full-time equivalent) of their research careers. This is measured from the date when they obtained the degree which formally entitles them to embark on a doctorate, either in the country in which the degree was obtained or in the country in which the research training is provided, irrespective of whether or not a doctorate was envisaged.

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 host organisation, researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host organisation for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to their recruitment. Short stays, such as holidays, are not taken into account.

English language: Network fellows (ESRs) must demonstrate that their ability to understand and express themselves in both written and spoken English is sufficiently high for them to derive the full benefit from the network training.

The 15 available PhD positions to cooperate in a European Network and follow a dedicated training program

ESR1: Efficient channel estimation and beam training with (partial) channel state information

Host: IMDEA Networks Institute, Madrid, Spain

PhD awarding institution: Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain

Main Supervisor: Prof. Joerg Widmer [IMDEA Networks]

Co-supervisors/mentors: Dr. Jesus O. Lacruz [IMDEA Networks]

Secondment partners: IMEC, NEC

Required profile: Telecommunication, Electrical Engineering

Desirable skills/interests: Signal processing, array processing, wireless communications, wireless networking, optimization, hands-on experience with hardware and systems (the applicant should be proficient in at least one or two of the skills)

Objectives:

To design custom measurement beam patterns for phased antenna arrays to quickly acquire Channel State Information (CSI);

To investigate tradeoffs between link SNR maximization and interference minimization in order to balance fairness and efficiency throughout the network;

To investigate algorithms that acquire the full CSI when only partial information is available via efficient procedures, either involving prior measurements or by factoring in external information.

ESR2: Machine learning-enabled fast and hybrid mmWave beam tracking

Host: KU LEUVEN (Leuven University), Belgium

PhD awarding institution: KU LEUVEN (Leuven University), Belgium

Main Supervisor: Prof. Guy Vandenbosch [KU Leuven]

Co-supervisors/mentors: Prof. Sofie Pollin and Dr. Evgenii Vinogradov [KU Leuven]; Prof. Fredrik Tufvesson [Lund University]

Secondment partners: Lund University, Sony

Required profile: Telecommunications, Electrical Engineering

Desirable skills/interests: signal processing, optimization, machine learning, programming & implementation skills (the applicant should be proficient in at least one or two of the skills)

Objectives:

To extract multidimensional (time, frequency, space) statistics from high-resolution channel measurements;

To design a low complexity mmWave hybrid beamforming antenna and a beam tracking algorithm for realistic channels using machine learning approaches.

ESR3: Fully digital massive MIMO mmWave communication for mission-critical applications

Host: Lund University, Lund, Sweden

PhD awarding institution: Lund University, Lund, Sweden

Main Supervisor: Prof. Fredrik Tufvesson [Lund University]

Co-supervisors/mentors: Prof. Sofie Pollin [KU Leuven], Dr. Harsh Tataria [Lund University]

Secondment partners: Sony, KU Leuven

Required profile:Electrical Engineering, Information and Communication Technology, Engineering Physics

Desirable skills/interests: Wireless communication, array processing, mathematical modelling, RF measurements, electromagnetics and antenna design, RF channel characterization and modelling (the applicant should be proficient in at least one or two of the skills)

Objectives:

To study the dynamic behaviour of mmWave massive MIMO systems in challenging scenarios with mission-critical constraints;

To harness the mmWave channel diversity via fully digital beamforming for ultra-reliable links in critical scenarios.

ESR4: Advanced localization and mapping techniques

Host: IMDEA Networks Institute, Madrid, Spain

PhD awarding institution: Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain

Main supervisor: Dr. Paolo Casari [IMDEA Networks]

Co-supervisors/mentors: Dr. Amanda García [IMDEA Networks]

Secondment partners: UNIPD, IMEC

Required profile: Electrical engineering, telecommunications engineering or equivalent disciplines

Desirable skills/interests: Signal processing, array processing, wireless networking, optimization, hands-on experience with hardware and systems (the applicant should be proficient in at least one or two of the skills)

Objectives:

To design location mechanisms adapted to different hardware capabilities, such as low-complexity algorithms for consumer-grade and constrained hardware for industrial applications;

To design localization algorithms with low-to-zero overhead by exploiting CSI;

To integrate simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) capabilities in mmWave location systems.

ESR5: Exploiting mmWave radios for indoor and outdoor environmental sensing

Host: University of Padua, Padua, Italy

PhD awarding institution: University of Padua (Italy)

Main supervisor: Prof. Michele Rossi [University of Padua]

Co-supervisors/mentors: Prof. Andrea Zanella [University of Padua]; Dr. Paolo Casari [IMDEA Networks]

Secondment partners: IMDEA Networks, NOKIA Ireland

Required profile: telecommunication engineering, applied mathematics, electrical engineering, computer science (in order of preference)

Desirable skills/interests: signal processing, statistical filtering, machine learning, applied optimization (the applicant should be proficient in at least one or two of the skills)

Objectives:

To develop algorithms for mmWave sensing in a wide range of different indoor environments;

To understand the limits of outdoor sensing at mmWave and to propose robust network architectures and procedures to enable reliable and high-precision outdoor sensing;

To investigate cooperative and infrastructure-less sensing via combining different views/sensor fusion.

ESR6: Fully digital massive MIMO mmWave positioning

Host: Lund University, Lund, Sweden

PhD awarding institution: Lund University, Lund (Sweden)

Main supervisor: Prof. Michael Lentmaier [Lund University]

Co-supervisors/mentors: Prof. Joerg Widmer [IMDEA Networks], Prof. Fredrik Tufvesson [Lund University]

Secondment partners: IMDEA Networks, KU Leuven

Required profile:Electrical Engineering, Information and Communication Technology, Engineering Physics, Engineering Mathematics

Desirable skills/interests:Wireless communication and signal processing, mathematical modelling and analysis, RF measurements; electromagnetics and antenna design; RF channel characterization and modelling (the applicant should be proficient in at least one or two of the skills)

Objectives:

To investigate high-resolution parameter estimation for localisation enabled by mmWave massive MIMO systems;

To analyse the performance loss when high-resolution information is unavailable (e.g., in codebook- based or phased array-based systems);

To extend the proposed methods to achieve centimetre-level accuracy even in challenging and dynamic augmented reality applications.

ESR7: Efficient network control for large and highly dense mmWave deployments

Host: IMDEA Networks Institute, Madrid, Spain

PhD awarding institution: Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain

Main supervisor: Prof. Arturo. Azcorra [IMDEA Networks]

Co-supervisors/mentors: Dr. Claudio Fiandrino [IMDEA Networks]

Secondment partners: KU Leuven, Italtel

Required profile: Electrical Engineering, telecommunications engineering or equivalent disciplines

Desirable skills/interests: Wireless networking, wireless communications, mobile network architectures, network simulators, scalable networking algorithms and protocols, optimization, signal processing (the applicant should be proficient in at least one or two of the skills)

Objectives:

To design low-overhead and scalable schemes that take advantage of the sparseness of the mmWave multi-path channel for beam training;

To design algorithms that maximise data rates by including a small amount of additional beam training that enables the measurement of the full CSI;

To design efficient scheduling mechanisms that maximise spatial reuse in dense scenarios.

ESR8: Ultra-dense cell-free mmWave deployment

Host: KU Leuven, Leuven Belgium

PhD awarding institution: KU LEUVEN (Leuven University), Belgium

Main supervisor: Prof. Sofie Pollin [KU Leuven]

Co-supervisors/mentors: Dr. Qing Wang [KU Leuven]; Prof. Fredrik Tufvesson [Lund University]

Secondment partners: Lund University, Proximus

Required profile: Telecommunications, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science

Desirable skills/interests: Wireless networking protocols, network architecture, optimization, machine learning (the applicant should be proficient in at least one or two of the skills)

Objectives:

To design an algorithm to assign users to mmWave hybrid antennas in ultra-dense cell-free networks;

To optimize the management overhead of optimal user/antenna allocation;

To improve the scalability of cell-free mmWave networking by leveraging available network information such as the clients’ location.

ESR9: Resilient multi-RAT techniques to reduce link failure rate

Host: NEC, Heidelberg, Germany

PhD awarding institution: TU Darmstadt, Germany

Main supervisor: Dr. Andres Garcia Saavedra [NEC]

Co-supervisors/mentors: Dr. Xi Li [NEC]; Prof. Matthias Hollick [TU Darmstadt]; Dr. Arash Asadi [TU Darmstadt]

Secondment partners: TUDA, Proximus

Required profile: Telecommunications, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science

Desirable skills/interests: 4G/5G network protocols, optimization, machine learning, signal processing, CPU scheduling (the applicant should be proficient in at least one or two of the skills)

Objectives:

To improve the resilience of 4G/5G communications systems for private networks by designing innovative multi-RAT architectures, exploiting both high- and low- frequency technologies, and multi-RAT opportunities to meet vertical industries needs;

To devise an efficient handover scheme through low-layer packet encapsulation or inter-stack tunneling in MAC layer.

ESR10: Prediction-based mobility management for resilient mmWave networking

Host: University of Padua, Padua, Italy

PhD awarding institution: University of Padua (Italy)

Main supervisor: Prof. Michele Zorzi [University of Padua]

Co-supervisors/mentors: Prof. Andrea Zanella [University of Padua]; Dr. Arash Asadi [TU Darmstadt]

Secondment partners: TUDA, Italtel

Required profile: telecommunication engineering, applied mathematics, electrical engineering, computer science (in order of preference)

Desirable skills/interests: signal processing, statistical filtering, machine learning, applied optimization (the applicant should be proficient in at least one or two of the skills)

Objectives:

To devise an efficient mobility management system for mmWave devices requiring low overhead;

To design prediction mechanisms for efficient beam management in order to improve the reactiveness and reduce initial access delay;

To design adaptive algorithms to improve the resiliency of mmWave connection in highly-mobile scenarios.

ESR11: MAC/Physical layer security of mmWave networks

Host: TU Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany

PhD awarding institution: TU Darmstadt, Germany

Main supervisor: Prof. Matthias Hollick [TU Darmstadt]

Co-supervisors/mentors: Dr. Arash Asadi [TU Darmstadt]; Dr. Dave Singelee [KU Leuven]

Secondment partners: KU Leuven, NEC

Required profile: Electrical Engineering, Computer Science

Desirable skills/interests: Physical layer security, SDR-based wireless prototyping, Strong mathematical background (the applicant should be proficient in at least one or two of the skills)

Objectives:

To develop mechanisms for enhancing the security of mmWave-specific procedures, including beamforming and beam tracking;

To protect control frames from attacks via low-overhead authentication schemes;

To design physical layer security mechanisms to prevent eavesdropping and associated attacks via randomization (beam hopping, side-lobe gain modulation, etc.).

ESR12: Interference-aware multi-connectivity for industry 4.0

Host: TU Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany

PhD awarding institution: TU Darmstadt, Germany

Main supervisor: Prof. Anja Klein [TU Darmstadt]

Co-supervisors/mentors: Dr. Gek Hong Sim [TU Darmstadt]

Secondment partners: NI, Nokia Ireland

Required profile: Electrical Engineering, Computer science, Applied Mathematics

Desirable skills/interests: Applied machine learning techniques, Stochastic modeling, SDR-based wireless prototyping (the applicant should be proficient in at least one or two of the skills)

Objectives:

To identify the number of simultaneous connections required in order to meet the desired level of reliability;

To develop algorithms that decide upon the number of connections adaptively based on the current failure rate of the links and the received interference;

To design algorithms for reducing the interference caused by the multi-connectivity.

ESR13: Delay jitter bounding through inter-layer coordination and multi-path for industry 4.0

Host: Nokia Bell Lab, Dublin, Ireland

PhD awarding institution: Maynooth University, Ireland

Main supervisor: Dr. Stepan Kucera [Nokia Bell Lab]

Co-supervisors/mentors: Prof. Ronan Farrell [Maynooth University]; Prof. Michele Rossi [University of Padua]; Dr. Arash Asadi [TU Darmstadt]

Secondment partners: TUDA, UNIPD

Required profile: Electrical Engineering, Wireless Engineering

Desirable skills/interests: Signal processing, network protocols, optimization, programming & implementation skills, machine learning (the applicant should be proficient in at least one or two of the skills)

Objectives:

To achieve bounded end-to-end delay jitter by coordinating the beam selection dynamics at the physical layer with the rate-control dynamics at the transport layer;

To propose scheduling methods to optimize multi-path routing and the amount of traffic along each path;

To develop multi-path packet aggregation approaches at the MAC, network, and transport layers.

ESR14: Context- and content-awareness in V2X communication

Host: TU Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany

PhD awarding institution: TU Darmstadt, Germany

Main supervisor: Prof. Ralf Steinmetz [TU Darmstadt]

Co-supervisors/mentors: Prof. Matthias Hollick [TU Darmstadt]; Prof. Sofie Pollin [KU Leuven]

Secondment partners: NI, KU Leuven

Required profile: Electrical Engineering, Computer science, Applied Mathematics

Desirable skills/interests: Applied machine learning techniques, Stochastic modeling, Physical layer multicast (the applicant should be proficient in at least one or two of the skills)

Objectives:

To facilitate the transmission of large volumes of data in vehicular networks under high-speed mobility;

To devise proactive mechanisms that leverage on board sensors to trigger handover or beam alignment procedures;

To design physical layer multicasting approaches where a multi-lobe beam pattern is formed to communicate with several vehicles simultaneously.

ESR15: Real-time high-throughput AR

Host: KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

PhD awarding institution: KU LEUVEN (Leuven University), Belgium

Main supervisor: Prof. Liesbet Van der Perre [KU Leuven]

Co-supervisors/mentors: Prof. Lieven De Strycker [KU Leuven]

Secondment partners: Lund University, NEC

Required profile: Electrical Engineering, telecommunications

Desirable skills/interests: Wireless communications, experimental electronics, embedded systems, sensor systems

Objectives:

To devise methods that reduce the communication latency using spatial diversity and the multi-RAT capabilities of AR devices;

To enable GPS-less localization and positioning for AR devices using low-cost sensors in indoor scenarios;

To enhance the energy efficiency of AR hardware through energy-aware activation of sensors and RATs.

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This project is to receive funding from the European Union’s EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020, pending the formal completion of the Grant Agreement (No 861222) procedure.