Organisation/Company Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)- BarcelonaTECH Research Field Physics » Optics Physics » Electromagnetism Engineering » Communication engineering Engineering » Electronic engineering Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Application Deadline 26 Oct 2026 - 23:00 (Europe/Madrid) Country Spain Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 37.50 Offer Starting Date 16 Nov 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Reference Number Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

The research will focus on reconfigurable electromagnetic structures and diffractive elements for terahertz frequencies, connecting computational photonics with applications in communications, sensing, and computing.

Mission:

Develop reconfigurable electromagnetic structures for terahertz beam shaping, with applications in communications, detection and computing. The research will combine modeling, design and numerical optimization with the implementation and validation of prototypes.

Functions to be developed:

- Analyze data, document software and results, and contribute to reports, publications, and scientific presentations, within the framework of a doctoral thesis.
- Design and optimize diffractive elements and reconfigurable structures to control the amplitude, phase and spatial distribution of terahertz beams.
- Model the propagation and diffraction of waves and the interaction with electromagnetic and photonic structures using Fourier optics and electromagnetic simulation.




- Develop scientific calculation tools in Python and optimization and machine learning methods for inverse design and diffractive computing.
- Participate in the implementation of prototypes, their characterization and the comparison of experimental results with simulations, in collaboration with the team.
- Numerical models of optical or electromagnetic systems: Implementation, verification and validation and interpreting the physical results.
- Numerical methods for physical systems and electromagnetic simulation, especially FDTD with Meep or equivalent tools.
- Scientific programming and data analysis: Development of reproducible simulation and analysis flows in Python (NumPy, SciPy), as well as data processing and visualization.
- Development tools and infrastructure: Version management with Git and execution of calculations in high-performance environments (HPC).

Other requirements to consider:

- Availability to develop a doctoral thesis linked to ATHENA and participate in design, implementation and experimental validation activities with the support of the team.
- Progressive autonomy and scientific rigor.
- Ability to communicate and document results in English.
- Teamwork.

Specific Requirements

Knowledge:

- Computational engineering, applied mathematics or scientific computing on CPU/GPU.




- Physical optics and propagation simulation: Fourier optics, diffraction, beam propagation (angular spectrum method, FFT) and photonic design tools with tolerance analysis.
- Optical computing and machine learning: Diffractive optical neural networks, differentiable propagation models and optimization algorithms using PyTorch.
- It will be assessed:
- Master's degree in Photonics, Optics or related areas.

Professional Experience:

- In scientific software development, data generation and calculation acceleration on CPU/GPU.
- In modeling and simulation of photonic systems or optical computing components, including academic projects, internships and final theses.
- Have worked on projects involving diffractive optical neural networks, propagation through the angular spectrum or implementation of machine learning models.
- Have participated in collaborative photonics projects and interacted with design, manufacturing or characterization teams.
- Experience in functions similar to those described will be valued, specifically in the development of research activities, both in the university and industrial environment.

Languages CATALAN Level Basic

Languages ENGLISH Level Good

Languages SPANISH Level Good

Research Field Physics » OpticsPhysics » ElectromagnetismEngineering » Communication engineeringEngineering » Electronic engineering Years of Research Experience 1 - 4

Additional Information

- 1st year: €20,364.96
- 2nd year: €20,364.96
- 3rd year: €25,456.20

Eligibility criteria

All the candidates who cannot prove the required academic degree

📌 Researcher in training to develop reconfigurable electromagnetic structures for terahertz beam shaping. (España)
🏢 Universitat Politècnica De Catalunya (Upc)- Barcelonatech
📍 España