PhD: Agentic AI for Autonomous Materials Discovery

DIFFER; Eindhoven; On-site; EUR 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

NWO employee benefits

Job summary

DIFFER in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, invites applications for a PhD candidate in Autonomous Energy Materials Discovery (AMD). You will build agentic AI workflows to turn AI-proposed alloy compositions into synthesis and characterization plans, perform high-throughput experiments, and contribute to publications while completing a four-year PhD.

You will spend substantial lab time and develop AI-enabled, reproducible research software to advance material realizability and document outcomes for

Qualifications

• Master's degree in a related field (CS/AI/DS/Physics/Chemistry/Materials Science).
• Strong Python skills and software engineering practices (Git, testing, reproducible code).
• Experience or interest in agentic AI systems (LLM-based agents, workflows, or data pipelines).
• Willingness to work hands-on in the lab and learn materials synthesis/characterisation.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, test, and operate an agentic AI-driven experimental workflow translating AI-proposed compositions into synthesis and characterization plans.
• Carry out high-throughput synthesis of material libraries with a nanoparticle printer, controlling composition and deposition.
• Characterise samples with micro-XRF mapping and SEM; develop reproducible Python pipelines for analysis.
• Develop and maintain a structured dataset with realizability labels to support AI model development.
• Connect AI agents to data, planning, and reporting tools to ensure traceability from candidate to results.

Skills

Python

Agentic AI

Git

Testing

Reproducible code

English

Education

Master's degree in Computer Science

Master's degree in Artificial Intelligence

Master's degree in Data Science

Master's degree in Physics

Master's degree in Chemistry

Master's degree in Materials Science

Tools

Nanoparticle printer

micro-XRF

SEM

Job description

DIFFER in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, invites applications for a PhD candidate in Autonomous Energy Materials Discovery (AMD). You will build agentic AI workflows to turn AI-proposed alloy compositions into synthesis and characterization plans, perform high-throughput experiments, and contribute to publications while completing a four-year PhD.

You will spend substantial lab time and develop AI-enabled, reproducible research software to advance material realizability and document outcomes for