PhD Researcher: Integrated Underwater and Terrestrial Communication Networks

The University of Edinburgh; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 17,000 - 21,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fully funded studentship

Generous salary

Travel budget

Job summary

A leading UK university seeks an outstanding Doctoral Candidate for a fully funded studentship as part of the Horizon Europe MSCA Doctoral Network. This role involves researching underwater optical wireless communication, aiming to link underwater networks to broader communication systems. Ideal candidates should have a strong background in physics or electronic engineering, with a passion for experimental work and mathematical modelling techniques. Competitive funding, including fees and salary, is offered.

Qualifications

• Strong passion for experimental work is essential.
• Ability to develop and apply mathematical modelling techniques is crucial.
• Interest in underwater optical wireless communication and high-speed data transfer.

Responsibilities

• Study underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC).
• Investigate approaches to link underwater network to land and space communication.
• Design a new resilient waveform for UOWC and evaluate its performance.

Skills

Mathematical modelling techniques

Experimental work

Education

First degree and MSc/MEng in physics, electronic and electrical engineering or related discipline

MSc/MEng in physics, electronic and electrical engineering

Job description

Organisation/Company The University of Edinburgh Department School of Engineering Research Field Engineering » Electronic engineering Engineering » Communication engineering Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Application Deadline 31 Dec 2026 - 12:59 (Europe/London) Country United Kingdom Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Offer Starting Date 1 Jun 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - MSCA Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

We are seeking an outstanding Doctoral Candidate (DC) for a fully funded studentship as part of the prestigious Horizon Europe MSCA Doctoral Network “Advanced Network Connectivity using Harmonious Optical and Radio Technologies (ANCHOR)” The studentship covers UK fees and provides a generous salary, consumables, and travel budget.

Extending high-speed wireless data transfer to the underwater environment has several benefits that include environmental protection, national security, mineral exploration, and monitoring of vital underwater infrastructure among others. This need has led to increased research in underwater optical wireless communication (UOWC). Recent studies in controlled in-lab testbeds have shown the possibility of a Gbps data rate. But achieving reliable, robust and resilient data transfer in the challenging underwater channel remains a challenge. This project will study UOWC and investigate approaches to link the underwater network to the much wider land and space communication networks.

This project is also to study the existing radiative transfer theoretical framework of photon propagation in underwater to formulate a signalling/waveform design that is best suited to the UOWC channel. This will be followed by designing a new resilient waveform for UOWC and developing a computer-based simulation to evaluate its performance. Finally, the study will use existing UOWC channel emulator to demonstrate the feasibility of the new signalling/waveform.

The ideal candidate for this project would have first degree and MSc/MEng in physics, electronic and electrical engineering or a related discipline. A passion for experimental work and capability to develop/apply mathematical modelling techniques will be particularly important for this project.

Number of offers available 1 Company/Institute https://eng.ed.ac.uk/research/institutes/idcom Country United Kingdom Geofield