PhD Position F/M PhD in Integrated and Printed Circuit Design for Sustainable and Ubiquitous Electronics

The doctoral student will be working in the Inria-AIO team (https://team.inria.fr/aio/) and will receive their PhD from Sorbonne University. The Inria-Paris center is located at the heart of Paris, in the 13th arrondissement. Some details of the project are available as part of the public announcement, here: https://www.uoc.edu/en/news/2025/gaia-project-for-sustainable-iot, as well as the project website, here: https://gaia-pathfinder.eu/ 

We are looking for an ambitious 3-year PhD candidate to join a European project, GAIA, studying the subject of biodegradable ultra low-power electronics. The position will start near the commencement of the project, 5-May 2026.
The GAIA project aims to design electronics for a ubiquitous and ecologically-aware Internet of Things. The project will solve this with a completely revolutionary approach to electronic design by using transient and biodegradeable materials. These new devices will be able to perform computation and communication with energy harvested from the environment and from ambient wireless signals. The PhD student will be part of the design and electronic characterization of these devices as well as proof-of-concept prototype electronics that will be manufactured in more traditional solid-state processes.
As part of this project, you will be expected to work closely with a multi-national European consortium consisting of experts in telecommunications, embedded systems, RFID, integrated circuits, and printed electronics. You will also be supported closely, day-to-day, with a researcher, an engineer, and an additional doctoral student researcher.

    •    You will be involved in state-of-the-art research in ambient-powered biodegradable RFID electronics involving both standard silicon CMOS design of ultra low-power processors and radio components, as well as design and characterization of radio-frequency, analog, mixed-signal, and digital electronics made out of printed electronic devices on biodegradable substrates.
    •    Throughout your PhD, you will be expected to publish your research results in journals and present your work at academic conferences
    •    At the end of the 3-year contract, you will be expected to write and defend a doctoral manuscript in order to complete the PhD degree

    •    A deep understanding of Electrical Engineering fundamentals (voltage, current, reference circuits, amplifiers, noise, power, design tradeoffs, electricity & magnetism, microelectronic design, etc.)
    •    Rigorous understanding of computing systems, such as computer architecture and embedded systems
    •    Familiarity with commercial Integrated Circuit design tools, such as Virtuoso, Spectre, VCS, Calibre, etc.
    •    Some experience with compact modeling of devices using verilog-A, and some experience with both digital and analog process development kits (PDKs)
    •    Preferably, prior experience with CMOS tape-outs
    •    Ability to perform literature surveys and understand state-of-the-art research
    •    Excellent technical presentation and writing ability
    •    Language: day-to-day research will be conducted in English. Knowledge of French is helpful but not mandatory.

• Subsidized meals
• Partial reimbursement of public transport costs
• Leave: 7 weeks of annual leave + 10 extra days off due to RTT (statutory reduction in working hours) + possibility of exceptional leave (sick children, moving home, etc.)
• Possibility of teleworking and flexible organization of working hours
• Professional equipment available (videoconferencing, loan of computer equipment, etc.)
• Social, cultural and sports events and activities
• Access to vocational training
• Social security coverage