PHD POSITION ON 3D OPTIMIZATION OF MAGNETIC COMPONENTS FOR RESONANT CONVERTERS (

KU LEUVEN; Belgique; Sur place; EUR 30 000 - 40 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

A prestigious university in Belgium is offering a PhD position in Electrical Engineering focusing on high-performance magnetic component design for resonant power converters. The successful candidate will receive a full-time Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship for 36 months, with opportunities for international collaboration and competitive salary. Candidates must have a Master's degree and strong knowledge in electromagnetism, along with lab experience.

Prestations

Competitive salary

Mobility allowance

Access to international training

Qualifications

• Strong knowledge in Electromagnetism and Lab Experience is strictly needed.
• Solid background in power electronics and magnetic component design.
• Experience with modelling and simulation tools.

Responsabilités

• Characterize leakage inductance and power losses in magnetics.
• Investigate impact of harmonic content from WBG devices.
• Extend core loss models to novel materials.
• Conduct stochastic studies on inductance variability.
• Perform multi-objective optimisation to improve efficiency.
• Validate models and designs in actual converters.

Connaissances

Electromagnetism knowledge

Lab experience

Power electronics background

Experience with MATLAB/Simulink

Familiarity with WBG semiconductors

Excellent English communication

Formation

Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering

Outils

FEM software like COMSOL or ANSYS Maxwell

Description du poste

Overview

Organisation/Company KU LEUVEN
Research Field Engineering » Electrical engineering
Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1)
Country Belgium
Application Deadline 30 Sep 2025 - 23:59 (UTC)
Type of Contract Temporary
Job Status Full-time
Offer Starting Date 1 Oct 2025
Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - MSCA
Reference Number BAP-2025-545
Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

This PhD is part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network “MAGNIFY” and aims to tackle the growing challenge of designing high-performance magnetic components for resonant power converters, especially under the influence of fast-switching wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductors such as GaN and SiC.

The core objective is to develop advanced 3-D modelling and optimisation methodologies for magnetic components that enable accurate leakage inductance prediction and improved overall performance. Traditional 1-D and 2-D modelling approaches fail to capture the complex three-dimensional effects critical to high-frequency, high-efficiency operation in modern converters.

Responsibilities

• Experimentally characterize leakage inductance and power losses in conventional magnetics using various core materials.
• Investigate the impact of harmonic content introduced by WBG devices on magnetic component behaviour.
• Extend and apply existing core loss models to novel materials, leveraging insights from the MAGNIFY network.
• Conduct a stochastic study on how strand positioning within windings affects inductance variability.
• Perform multi-objective optimisation (geometry, shape, size) to minimize leakage inductance and maximize efficiency.
• Validate developed models and optimized designs in actual resonant power converters using WBG semiconductors.

The expected outcomes include a robust 3-D modelling framework, novel low-leakage magnetic layouts, and an advanced design workflow that can be adopted by both academia and industry.

International collaboration / Secondments

• Tampere University: MATLAB/Simulink implementation (Month 22–24)
• Hitachi Energy: Benchmarking of magnetic components (Month 30–32)

Requirements and Qualifications

• Strong knowledge in Electromagnetism and Lab Experience is strictly needed.
• For this project, it is not possible to hire candidates with residence in Belgium.
• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related field.
• Solid background in power electronics and magnetic component design.
• Experience with modelling and simulation tools (such as MATLAB/Simulink, FEM software like COMSOL or ANSYS Maxwell).
• Familiarity with WBG semiconductors is an asset.
• A willingness to work in a collaborative, international environment.
• Excellent English communication skills. Knowledge of Dutch is not required but encouraged.

Notes

Note: If the selected candidate holds a Master’s degree from a non-EU institution, an English proficiency certificate, a legalised English translation, and an apostille of the diploma and transcripts will be required.

About the PhD & Fellowship

This PhD will be carried out within the EnergyVille framework, a collaboration between KU Leuven, VITO, imec, and UHasselt, focused on sustainable energy systems.

The successful candidate will receive a full-time Marie Skłodowska-Curie PhD fellowship for 36 months, which can extend to 48 months. This includes a competitive salary, mobility allowance, and access to international training and networking opportunities through the MAGNIFY Doctoral Network.

The goal is to obtain a PhD degree from KU Leuven after successful completion of the program.