Research Assistant (PhD candidate, E13, IBS, IV-105/25)
Research Assistant - salary grade E13 TV-L Berliner Hochschulen- 1st qualification phase (PhD candidate)
PhD Position in Hardware Development for Multimodal Wearable Neurotechnology: The Intelligent Biomedical Sensing (IBS) lab, led by Dr.-Ing. Alexander von Lühmann at TU Berlin/BIFOLD, is seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate for the ERC Starting Grant project "INTEGRAL – Enabling Unobtrusive Real-World Monitoring of Brain-Networks with Wearable Neurotechnology and Multimodal Machine Learning." This project aims to develop the next generation of wearable neurotechnology for continuous brain-body imaging in real-world environments.
The position focuses on the development of ultra-lightweight, multimodal wearable hardware systems for High-Density Diffuse Optical Tomography (HD-DOT), Electroencephalography (EEG), and peripheral physiological signals. This includes novel optoelectronic sensor technologies, embedded systems, and real-time data processing.
Tasks
As a PhD candidate in this project, you will:
- Develop miniaturized optoelectronic sensor systems for HD-DOT and EEG.
- Design ultra-low-noise analog and mixed-signal circuits for real-time brain imaging.
- Implement real-time electronics for multimodal data acquisition, preprocessing, and synchronization.
- Optimize energy-efficient and space-saving architectures for wearable devices, including flexible electronics and thermal management.
- Collaborate interdisciplinarily with neuroscientists, electrical engineers, and machine learning experts.
- Test and validate prototypes in real-world applications with human subjects.
- Publish research results in renowned scientific journals and conferences.
- Perform teaching tasks.
Requirements
- Outstanding succesfully completed university degree (Master, Diplom or equivalent) in Electrical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Embedded Systems Engineering, Optoelectronics, or a related field.
- Hands-on experience in electronic circuit design, from schematics to fully functional prototypes.
- Experience in PCB design (Altium, KiCad, Cadence) for high-performance analog and mixed-signal systems.
- Strong expertise in embedded systems and real-time programming (C/C++/RTOS).
- Experience with optoelectronics and photonics.
- Knowledge of sensor calibration and noise suppression for physiological signals.
- The ability to teach in German and/or English is required; willingness to acquire the missing language skills
Preferred Qualifications (Beneficial but Not Required):
- Experience in wearable and flexible electronics.
- Knowledge of low-power wireless communication protocols (BLE, LoRa, etc.).
- Experience with mechanical design, 3D printing, and rapid prototyping.
- Understanding of time- and frequency-domain analysis for optical sensors.
- Experience with multimodal biosignal acquisition (EEG, fNIRS, PPG, etc.).
- Research experience (scientific publications are a plus).
- Strong teamwork and communication skills.
- Creativity, analytical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
What We Offer:
- A fully funded (100%) PhD position in an internationally recognized research group.
- Access to cutting-edge lab facilities, including rapid prototyping, electronics workbenches, and biosignal testing equipment.
- Collaboration with leading research institutions
- The opportunity to contribute to the development of next-generation neurotechnology with real-world applications in neuroscience and healthcare research.
- A highly interdisciplinary and dynamic work environment, working alongside leading experts in wearable neurotechnology, signal processing, and machine learning.
Employer: TU Berlin / BIFOLD
Salary grade: TV-L E13 Berliner Hochschulen
Starting date (earliest): Earliest possible / for 4 years
Closing date: April 11, 2025
Full job posting: IV-105/25