Openings at EI

PhD position in DC/DC Power Conversion Integrated Circuits and Systems

Opening for: PhD student

From low-power Internet-of-Things (IoT) sensors to high-power data centers, DC/DC converters are widely used in almost all electronic systems, simply because every electronic device needs one or multiple stable and reliable power supplies. To achieve high power conversion efficiency, most DC/DC converters employ one or multiple inductors for energy transfer. Due to the required inductance, power inductors are hard to be integrated on-chip. For external power inductors, their sizes and costs sometimes dominate the whole power management system, especially in miniature IoT devices.

In this project, we are going to design energy-efficient and highly integrated DC/DC converters to provide stable and reliable power for electronic loads. We will investigate hybrid topologies and inductor-sharing techniques to reduce inductor requirement, and switched-capacitor DC/DC topologies to achieve fully integrated designs.  We are looking for a Ph.D. candidate with a background in analogue integrated circuit design. The candidate should be a self-motivated researcher with excellent learning, analytical, problem-solving and communication skills.

The closing date of this vacancy is 30 July 2022 or until the position is filled, whichever is earlier. Interested candidates are encouraged to apply early.

To apply for this position, please send the following documents to the contact below.

• A detailed CV
• Motivation letter (max. 1 page)
• B.Sc. and M.Sc. Transcripts
• Names and contact information of at least two referees (just contacts, not actual letters).

Contact

dr. Sijun Du

Assistant Professor

Electronic Instrumentation Group

Department of Microelectronics

Additional information

In The Netherlands, almost all PhD positions are linked to funded research projects. This has several implications:

• PhD students are employed: they receive a salary rather than a grant. Most projects have a duration of 4 years.
• Positions become available once a project is funded. This can happen at any time during the year.
• It typically takes 6 to 9 months for a project proposal to receive funding. In this period, a position may be anticipated but the outcome remains insecure. Once a project is funded, the open position needs to be filled as soon as possible.

If you are interested in our research, it merits to inquire whether openings will be available. We collect resumes of prospective PhD students throughout the year, for each of our research tracks.

General requirements

We make our selection based on the following general requirements:

• Formal requirements regarding prior education: you should have earned an MSc degree at a recognized institute for higher education.
• Background: this depends on the specific project.
• Excellence: your Grade-Point-Average should be above 8 (10). Also your MSc thesis should have received a grade above 8 (10).
• English: you should be able to communicate well in english (written and oral). Provide TOEFL/IELTS scores if available.
• Originality: your MSc thesis or later work (publications) should reflect some original ideas. Critical and independent thinking is very important.
• Team player: you should be able to work well in a team of other project members.

Your resume should contain contact information of prior advisors/supervisors who can provide feedback.