Millimeter-wave 6G antennas for high-speed broadband SATCOM terminals

We offer a PhD position where you will be exposed to the state of the art in millimeter-wave antenna systems, have the opportunity to contribute to large international projects, as well as projects with Swedish industry. This position is a great opportunity for you to learn both the scientific knowledge and practical skills in key enabling technologies of digital transformation and high-speed broadband satellite communication - the area of great importance for industry and society.

Information about the research/the project/the division
The PhD position is placed at the Antenna Group, part of the Department of Electrical Engineering at Chalmers. The Antenna Group is well known in Sweden and internationally for its scientific contributions to antenna systems for telecommunications, radars, satellites, astronomy and space sciences, as well as disruptive antenna technologies for new applications, such as 5G/6G, having resulted in successful spin-off companies Gapwaves and Bluetest. We offer international PhD courses where we extend the fundamentals in antennas to the cross-disciplinary fields, covering electronic devices, integrated circuits, signal processing, and digital communication. We also offer training and access to a new world-class experimental infrastructure, the Millimeter wave -THz antenna chamber, at Chalmers, and the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing. Furthermore, we stimulate commercial exploitation of the results developed in the research projects through collaborations with industries and offer support of Chalmers innovation office for spin-off/start-up activities. At present, the Antenna Group has about 25 members from all over the world. The research and learning environment is international and English is the working language. We encourage personal health and well-being by organizing social events, providing annual wellness allowance to employees, and offering support from the international staff mobility office to newcomers from abroad, including help with the search for affordable student accommodation. A vast majority of our graduates successfully continue their professional careers in Swedish and European industry.

Information about Satcube AB:
The PhD is a joint collaboration between Chalmers and Satcube AB. Satcube is a Swedish SME with headquarter in Gothenburg and production in Karlstad. They specialize in developing compact, light-weight, and energy efficient broadband terminals for satellite communication. Satcube is world leading in the field of portable terminals for Communication On The Pause (COTP), and their products are used all over the world by well-renowned customers such as the UN, the Red Cross, FBI, CBS News, ABC News, Sky News, IKEA, etc. Satcube currently employs approximately 40 people, most of which are specialized engineers, and hosts two PhDs with an additional four pending.

Background of the research project:
This PhD project is among 15 research projects of the European Doctoral Network `ANTERRA' (Non-Terrestrial Antenna Systems for the six-generation wireless, 6G) that offers 15 fully funded industrial PhD student positions in the area of antennas, integrated circuits and signal processing, starting in the autumn of 2022. ANTERRA is focused on Antenna Systems for 6G Non-Terrestrial Networks. The consortium consists of 14 leading European R&D laboratories from universities, industries, and technology institutes in the domain of satellite communication and wireless infrastructure which are located in The Netherlands, France, Sweden, Italy and Belgium.

Major responsibilities
In this PhD project, you will perform cutting-edge research on millimeter-wave active array antennas such as required for the future Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communication broadband user terminals. The PhD student is expected to develop a new method for the design of dual-band mm-wave phased arrays for LEO satellite communication broadband user terminals that can enable both the Rx and Tx bands in the same antenna aperture, while supporting a circular polarization operation over a wide beam steering range with high efficiency. The challenge and main focus of this project is the combination of efficient electromagnetic design, utilization of novel manufacturing technologies and mechanical design. The research results are expected to lay the foundation of the next-generation design methods of full duplex active antenna systems. Your research will include fundamental theoretical studies, numerical simulations, and measurements of a performance verification system to be developed in collaboration with senior researchers in the team. You are expected to publish papers of high quality and collaborate with other PhD students and senior researchers in the team. To maximize the success of your PhD project, you will spend 18 months of your PhD project time as an employee at Satcube AB (https://satcube.com/) and visit other international partners. The position generally also includes teaching on Chalmers' undergraduate level or performing other duties corresponding to about 5% percent of working hours.

Qualifications
To qualify as a PhD student, you must have, or expect to receive soon, a master's level degree in Electrical Engineering, Engineering Physics, Technical Physics or similar. Knowledge of electromagnetic fields, microwave and antenna engineering is required. You also need to enjoy working in a team and have the ability to present scientific results in English, both in writing and orally. Experience in CST, HFSS, ADS or similar is required.

Advantageous merits: previous design experience in the area of microwave and antenna engineering, previous teaching experience, programming skills (Matlab and Python), knowledge of mathematical analysis.

If Swedish is not your native language and you are interested in learning it, Chalmers offers Swedish courses that are free for PhD students. Although the knowledge of Swedish is not mandatory for teaching and research, many PhD students decide to follow these courses.
For the PhD positions in ANTERRA project the EU `MOBILITY RULEs' apply. This means that candidate students cannot have resided for more than 12 months during the period of 3 years immediately before the start of the PhD, in Sweden.

Application procedure
Read more and apply here. 

Application deadline: 2022-09-01