PROFESSOR ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY SOLUTIONS FOR SMART ENVIRONMENTS

(ref. ZAP-2020-23)

In the Science, Engineering and Technology Group of KU Leuven, Faculty of Engineering Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT-TELEMIC), Research unit DRAMCO, there is a full-time academic vacancy in the area of electrical engineering and wireless systems at the Technology Campus in Ghent. We are looking for internationally oriented candidates with an excellent research record and with educational competence within the field of wireless connectivity solutions for smart environments. The Faculty of Engineering Technology has a specific application-oriented teaching, research and doctoral profile. We focus on R&D that brings innovation that is relevant for industry and/or society. The appointee will be expected to comply with that profile. The research of the DRAMCO group focusses on low power embedded systems and wireless connectivity with research topics in wireless sensor nodes, indoor localization and related applications in location-based services and context awareness, low power acoustic monitoring, visible light communication, large array systems, wireless charging and technologies for the fast evolving world of the Internet-of-Things, smart environments, Industry 4.0, 5G and beyond networks, etc. We cooperate on an international scale, amongst others in the frame of EU funded projects, and with local instances and companies including SMEs.

Duties Research

• You develop a research programme in the domain of low power solutions for connected embedded systems IoT and hyper-connected environments. A great variety of new and future applications pose diverse requirements and operate in different environments: while some of them need to be ultra-reliable (for example robots and autonomous vehicles), others need to be very low power (such as wearable sensors), and they may be operating in a local area (in factories, warehouses, and smart homes) or larger scale (e.g. in the context of smart cities). Within this domain, you establish R&D activities with focus on low power technologies. Candidates are welcome to propose a plan for example with focus on antenna modules, dispersed electronics including edge processing, algorithm-architecture co-design, RF subsystems tailored to a wide range of design requirements of the different contemporary and future applications.

• You look forward to cooperate intensively within the DRAMCO group where the R&D has a strong experimental component. You take responsibilities in setting up future research projects of the group and collaborations with university partners, as well as national and international industrial partners (including SMEs).
• You pursue excellence in industrial innovation and scientific output that adheres to the highest international standards and in your supervision of PhD students. You acquire competitive funding for research projects of the group.

Education

• You ensure high-quality education in the field of electronics and communication in the Bachelor and Master of Science in Engineering Technology – Electronics-ICTand Energy in the Faculty of Engineering Technology, with a clear commitment for the quality of the programme as a whole. You are willing to teach or coordinate other courses in the program. All professors are expected to teach a few basic undergraduate courses.

• You are enthusiastic about pedagogic projects and coaching of students in the bachelor, master and PhD program.

• You develop teaching activities, in line with KU Leuven's focus on activating and research-based education. You make use of specific educational training programmes offered by the faculty and the university.
• Besides your teaching duties at the Technology Campus in Ghent, you may be asked, within the multi-campus model, to take up a limited teaching duty at another campus.

Service

• You are prepared to provide scientific, societal and internal services. You like to contribute to the promotion of STEM and electrical engineering to young people, and initiatives that encourage a diverse public to join the engineering programs of the Faculty of Engineering Technology of KU Leuven.

Profile

• You have a PhD or doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering.

• You have a strong research track record in the domain, evidenced by publications in good quality/international journals. Industrial experience and international research experience are positive factors. Experience in acquisition of competitive funding is an asset.
• You have good teaching skills, and educational experience is considered a positive factor.
• You possess leadership and organisational skills and value the cooperation in a team highly.
• Proficiency in English is required.
  The official language used at KU Leuven is Dutch. If you do not speak Dutch (or do not speak it well) at the start of employment, KU Leuven will provide language training to enable you to take part in meetings.
  Before teaching courses in Dutch or English, you will be given the opportunity to learn Dutch, respectively English, to the required standard.
• You accept the necessary mobility required in fulfilling the teaching and research assignments.

Offer

We are offering full-time employment in an intellectually challenging environment.

KU Leuven is a research-intensive, internationally oriented university that carries out both fundamental and applied scientific research. Our university is highly inter- and multidisciplinarily focused and strives for international excellence. In this regard we actively work together with research partners in Belgium and abroad and provide our students with an academic education that is based on high-quality scientific research.

You will work at KU Leuven Technology Campus Ghent, in a historic city with a 40-minute rail connection to Brussels, and about three hours train to Paris, London and Amsterdam.

Depending on your record and qualifications, you will be appointed to or tenured in one of the grades of the senior academic staff: assistant professor, associate professor, professor or full professor. In principle, junior researchers are appointed as assistant professor on the tenure track for a period of 5 years; after this period and a positive evaluation, they are permanently appointed (or tenured) as an associate professor.

KU Leuven is well set to welcome foreign professors and their family and provides practical support with regard to immigration & administration, housing, childcare, learning Dutch, partner career coaching, … 
To facilitate scientific onboarding and accelerate research in the first phase a starting grant of 100.000 euro is offered to new professors without substantial other funding, appointed for at least 50%."

Interested?

For more information on the contents of the job, please contact:

• Prof. dr. ir. Bart Nauwelaers (chair of the ESAT Department),tel.: +32 16 32 11 14, bart.nauwelaers@kuleuven.be
• Prof. dr. ir. Lieven Destrycker (campus chair Technology Campus Ghent), tel.: +32 9 26727 11, lieven.destrycker@kuleuven.be, +32 499 524 806

You can submit your application until August 17, 2020, only through our online application system. If you have problems submitting your application online, please send an email to solliciteren@kuleuven.be.

Add to your application following documents in English (more information is available on the KU Leuven job site):

• your biosketch in which you indicate your added value as an academic for research, education and service to society of your past career and of your future activities (maximum 2 pages);
• a file on your five most important publications or realizations;
• an extensive cv including a full publication list and, if applicable, a portfolio of your architectural projects;
• your research plan with focus on the development of your research line and research team in relation with the colleague-researchers of the entity of employment (maximum 4 pages);
• your vision on academic education and its organization (maximum 2 pages);
• your contribution to society by outreach and public communication on science and technology, internal representation in boards and councils and service activities directly in relation to your developed expertise (maximum 1 page);
• your vision on leadership (maximum 1 page).

KU Leuven places great importance on research integrity and ethical conduct and will therefore ask you to sign an integrity statement upon appointment.

You can apply for this job no later than August 17, 2020 via the online application tool

KU Leuven seeks to foster an environment where all talents can flourish, regardless of gender, age, cultural background, nationality or impairments. If you have any questions relating to accessibility or support, please contact us at diversiteit.HR@kuleuven.be.