PhD Position: Spaceborne quantum communication

Airbus Stuttgart

Stellenbeschreibung:

Job Description

Tesat‑Spacecom (TESAT) is offering a PhD position in the field of free‑space optical quantum communication with a focus on multi‑user space/aerial QKD network architecture design based on trusted nodes. The fully funded position is part of the Marie Skłodowska‑Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Network “FOCAL” which consists of a consortium of European research institutes, universities and industry partners. The academic supervision of the candidate will be provided by Dr. Christian Deppe in combination with an enrollment in the PhD program of the Technical University Braunschweig (TUBS). Over the course of the thesis, the candidate will have the opportunity to get in contact and collaborate with consortium partners. Currently, two secondments are planned at DLR‑IKN (Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany) and Fraunhofer HHI (Berlin, Germany), as well as short visits to ThinkQuantum (Padua, Italy) and University of Edinburgh.

We are looking for an excellent candidate with:

a Master’s degree in physics, mathematics, photonics engineering, communications engineering or other related STEM fields
analytical thinking
a willingness to work in a team in multi‑partner project structures
a solid understanding of the concepts of quantum physics, in particular, quantum optics

Eligibility criteria:

Be in the first four years (full‑time equivalent research experience) of your research career.
Be of any nationality, but not have resided or carried out main activity in the country of the host institution for more than 1 year in the past 3 years (MSCA Mobility Rule).
Have not yet been awarded a PhD degree.

This job requires an awareness of any potential compliance risks and a commitment to act with integrity, as the foundation for the Company’s success, reputation and sustainable growth.