Project Description

PhD Subject: Materials Science

Materials that can withstand extreme heat, pressure, and corrosion are crucial for the energy, aerospace, and cleantech industries.

Tungsten excels in all these areas, but its use is limited by its brittleness and very high melting point, making it difficult to process using conventional methods. With support from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions program, the ElectronsMatter network is tackling this challenge through electron beam melting, a groundbreaking additive manufacturing technique. By combining modeling, process optimization, and advanced material characterization, the project aims to produce crack-free tungsten components.

The Department of Materials Science at KTH is now seeking two PhD candidates who wish to join this European network, contribute to the research, and receive training in sustainable manufacturing and advanced materials.

Overview of the two projects:

• Microstructure Modeling: You will develop descriptions of the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of tungsten and its alloys. The results will be integrated into microstructure models to predict phase transformations and grain structure during electron beam melting. The work will be conducted in close collaboration with experimental methods to validate models and contribute to the development of crack-free tungsten components.
• Advanced Material Characterization: You will characterize tungsten and its alloys at the atomic level using techniques such as atom probe tomography (APT) and electron-ion microscopy. The focus will be on identifying and understanding the effect of trace and alloying elements on microstructure and properties. The work will be conducted in close collaboration with microstructure modeling, where the experimental data is used in predictive models and contributes to the development of crack-free tungsten components.

Supervision: Greta Lindwall and Peter Hedström are proposed as supervisors for the PhD candidate. The decision will be made upon admission.

We offer

• The opportunity to pursue a PhD in a dynamic, international research environment in collaboration with industry and leading universities worldwide.
• A workplace with many employment benefits and a monthly salary according to KTH's agreement for PhD salaries.
• Compensation – In addition to the base salary mentioned in the link above, a mobility allowance and possibly a family allowance are included in all positions within the Marie Curie program. For more information, please read here. Base salary and additional allowances are stated before tax.
• PhD education at an institution that is active and supportive in issues such as working conditions, equality, diversity, and study environment.
• The opportunity to collaborate with researchers in academia, institutes, and industry as part of the ElectronsMatter network.
• An international PhD education environment with research exchanges at partner universities and in industry, as well as joint PhD courses and research schools.

Eligibility for Admission

To be admitted to doctoral education (Chapter 7, Section 39 of the Higher Education Ordinance), the applicant must have basic eligibility:

• Mobility rules – Candidates must not have been resident or had their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Sweden for more than 12 months during the 3 years immediately preceding the recruitment date.
• Completed a degree at the advanced level, or
• Completed course requirements of at least 240 higher education credits, of which at least 60 higher education credits at the advanced level, or
• In some other way, within or outside the country, acquired substantially equivalent knowledge.

A Master's degree in materials science or similar is required.

In addition to the above, there is also a mandatory requirement for English equivalent to English B/6.

Selection

To succeed in your PhD studies at KTH, you need to be goal-oriented and persistent in your work. In the selection of applicants, the ability to:

• independently drive your work forward,
• collaborate with others,
• have a professional approach, and
• analyze and work with complex issues.

After the eligibility requirements, great importance will be placed on personal qualities.

Target Degree: Doctorate

Information on Admission and Employment

Only those who have been admitted to doctoral education may be employed as PhD candidates. The total employment period may not exceed what corresponds to full-time doctoral education for four years. An employed PhD candidate may, to a limited extent (maximum 20%), perform certain tasks within, e.g., education and administration. A new employment as a PhD candidate is valid for a maximum of one year, and the employment may thereafter be renewed for a maximum of two years at a time.

Union Representatives

Contact information for union representatives.

The PhD section (Student Union of the Royal Institute of Technology)

Contact information for the PhD section.

Application

You apply via KTH's recruitment system. As an applicant, you have the primary responsibility for ensuring that your application is complete when submitted.

The application must be received by KTH no later than the last application day at midnight, CET/CEST (Central European Time/Central European Summer Time).

The application should include the following content:

• CV with relevant professional experiences and skills.
• Cover letter with a brief account of why you want to pursue doctoral studies, your academic interests, and how they relate to your previous studies and future goals. (Max 2 pages)
• Copies of degree certificates and transcripts from previous university studies and proof of fulfilled language requirements (see above). Translations into English or Swedish if the original document is not issued in one of these languages. Copies of originals must be certified.
• Representative publications or technical reports. For longer documents, please attach a summary (abstract) and a web link to the full text.

Other

The pursuit of equality, diversity, and equal opportunities is both a quality issue and an obvious part of KTH's values.

For information on the processing of personal data in connection with recruitment.

It may occur that an employment at KTH is placed in a security class. If this is the case for this particular employment, a security review of the applicant will be conducted in accordance with the Security Protection Act (2018:585) after consent. In these cases, a prerequisite for employment is that the applicant is approved after the security review.

We kindly ask for no direct contact with staffing and recruitment companies or advertisers of job postings.