Three Doctoral Student positions for beyond-5G cellular access

We, at the University of Oulu, work as part of the international science community to produce new scientific information and science-based solutions. We are committed to educate future pioneers to build a more sustainable, intelligent and humane world. Creating new, taking responsibility and succeeding together build strong foundation in all our actions. We offer a working environment where individuals can cultivate their skills, do meaningful work, and develop professionally. Our university's several specialized research and service units enable extensive and diverse development and career opportunities for experts in various fields.

Centre for Wireless Communications (CWC) at University of Oulu, Finland, is offering three Doctoral Student positions focusing on research for 5G and beyond cellular access, as well as, for mmWave based wearables and industrial IoT solutions. The positions are available in Academy of Finland funded research projects led by Associate Professor Antti Tölli starting preferably during the fall 2021. The duration of the positions is three years.

CWC is one of the leading research units in the field of wireless communications globally. Its mission is to conduct world-class research, create new technologies, train world-class graduates, and transfer technology to real use. Research work will be directly linked with the University of Oulu’s 6G flagship programme developing fundamental competences for beyond 5G and intelligent digital applications needed for smart societies.

In this call, we are looking for people for these specific research topics:

a) Multiantenna coded caching for wireless content delivery:  In this topic, the focus is on the multipoint/multiantenna coded caching of popular content at radio access network and edge devices, to increase both the content delivery performance and the energy efficiency of wireless access. In multipoint coded caching, devices or small cells with self-backhauling store fragments of files, and the network transmits multicast network coded messages to multiple devices or small cells, depending on their current content needs, i.e., file requests. Practical energy-efficient dynamic and proactive multiantenna/multipoint coded caching delivery and cache (re)placement strategies are developed, where, in addition to the content delivery, the energy expenditure of the content placement phase is properly accounted for.

b) Robust and reliable high bandwidth wireless access:  Beyond-5G systems are expected to exploit the large amount of bandwidth available in carrier frequencies up to 1 THz. In this topic, we devise new mathematical tools, signal processing methods and algorithms for communicating in mmWave and sub-THz multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels, while incorporating various practical implementation constraints. The aim is to develop reconfigurable, robust and reliable high bandwidth mmWave/sub-THz communication links for 5G and beyond cellular access, as well as, for wearables and industrial IoT solutions.

c) Energy-efficient and low-complexity massive MIMO: Operating at high frequencies requires massive MIMO arrays comprising even thousands of antennas at network nodes to spatially focus the signal power. In this setting, fully digital arrays with low-resolution (down to 1-bit) analog-to-digital/digital-to-analog converters (ADCs/DACs) represent an attractive solution to drastically reduce the power consumption without compromising the system performance. In this topic, new mathematical models and signal processing methods will be developed to characterize the trade-off between power consumption, complexity, and performance. The overall energy efficiency will be placed at the core of the proposed research, which will allow scalability in dense scenarios as well as essential connectivity in remote areas. The practical implementation aspects related to RF design and network protocols will be addressed through cross-disciplinary initiatives as well as collaborations with academic and industrial partners.

Profile of the ideal candidate

A candidate for the position of a Doctoral Student should possess:

What we offer

Our Doctoral Students will enjoy a competitive salary, fully paid free time equivalent of holiday and benefits such as occupational healthcare. The starting salary for a doctoral student is approx. 2500 EUR and the salary increases gradually according to the progress of studies up to approx. 3300-3500 EUR by the time of graduation.

The selected candidates will have full-time, fixed-term positions with an annual working time of 1612 hours. The terms of employment are determined by the Collective Agreement for Finnish Universities. A maximum of six months’ trial period is applied according to the regular practice in Finnish universities.

The exact starting date will be agreed upon separately with the preferred starting date in September or October 2021.

Application and attachments

Submit your application using the electronic application system by 15 September 2021 (extended deadline) at 23:59 Finnish time (EEST UTC/GMT +3h). Applications sent by email will not be considered.

The following documents must be attached to the application as PDF files and written in English:

Provide a selling motivation letter describing especially

• what research challenges you are eager to tackle,
• your ambition and personal goals for research (and studies),
• your prior study and/or research highlights,
• your most valuable characteristics, competences and skills,
• your prior experience in co-creation and innovation, and
• your “soft skills” which qualify you as a fluent communicator and true team player, among others

Please also provide names and details on two references including their current organisation and position, how the person knows you, his/her email and phone number.

Attach the following scanned documents to your application in a single pdf-file:

• diploma certificate(s),
• transcript of records, and
• CV (max 4 pages) and list of publications

Contact: Associate Professor Antti Tölli (and Adj. Prof. Italo Atzeni for student position c) ), e-mail: [email protected] , [email protected]

https://cc.oulu.fi/~atolli/
https://cc.oulu.fi/~iatzeni18/
https://www.oulu.fi/cwc/
https://www.oulu.fi/6gflagship/

Edited August 13, 2021: Prolongued application time