audio IoT sensors.
Your Role and Goals
As a Doctoral Researcher, you will:
- Design energy-efficient digital in-memory computing circuits for on-chip AI inference, spanning both full-custom design and RTL-based flows through synthesis and place-and-route to tape-out
- Verify and characterise your designs, from simulation and FPGA to measurement of the fabricated chips in our laboratory
- Publish and present your results at leading international venues, and complete your doctoral thesis in the Aalto Doctoral Programme in Electrical Engineering
- Contribute to teaching duties as part of your doctoral studies
Your Network and Team
Currently, our research group consists of 1 professor, 3 PhD students, and several MSc or BSc research collaborators. The group is led by Professor Kwantae Kim.
Your Experience and Ambitions
We are looking for a thorough and motivated colleague who is expected to:
- Hold a Master’s degree and excellent study records in Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Microelectronics, Computer Engineering, or a closely related field, completed by the start of the position
- Have a solid background in digital hardware design: Verilog/SystemVerilog RTL, logic synthesis, and place-and-route
- Be familiar with Python programming
- Have a working proficiency in English. (Finnish language is not required.)
The following are considered an advantage
- Experience with FPGA prototyping
- Experience with the PyTorch framework
- Experience with analog or full-custom layout
- Prior tape-out experience in any technology
What We Offer
- We support a wide range of chip design tools required for tape-out (Cadence, Synopsys, etc.), and FPGA/PCB design.
- We have dedicated technical staff who manage PDK NDAs and maintain the computing cluster for circuit simulation and PDK installation.
- We provide chip measurement infrastructure covering DC to THz bandwidth at the School of Electrical Engineering.
- We collaborate with academic partners in Europe and Asia, including research visits abroad.
The contract is fixed-term and follows Aalto's standard 2+2 model. It will be made initially for two (2) years, with a six (6) month probationary period, and extended by two (2) further years after a successful mid-term review, giving a total duration of four (4) years. The starting salary for doctoral researcher is approximately 3100€/Month.
Our primary workplace is located at the Otaniemi Campus in Espoo, Finland.
Join Us!
To apply, please share the following with us through our recruitment site ("Apply now!") at the latest by 23.59 (Helsinki time) on 7 August 2026:
- CV
- Motivation letter (max. 1 page)
- Transcript of study records for your MSc (and BSc) degree
- Recommendation letters (max. 1, if available)
All materials must be submitted in PDF format. Applications submitted by email will not be accepted. We encourage you to apply early, as we will go through applications, and we may invite suitable candidates to interview already during the application period.
