1 PhD position at Université Libre de Bruxelles within the MSCA-DN-JD project \"DESIRE\"

Organisation/Company Université Libre Bruxelles Department Aéro-Thermo-Mécanique Research Field Engineering » Mechanical engineering Engineering » Aerospace engineering Engineering » Chemical engineering Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Application Deadline 7 Oct 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Rome) Country Belgium Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Offer Starting Date 10 Oct 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - MSCA Marie Curie Grant Agreement Number 101169262 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Climate change and energy security challenges demand a rapid transition from fossil-based energy production to sustainable alternatives. The European Green Deal and the REPowerEU Plan highlight the urgency of decarbonizing Energy-Intensive Industries (EIIs) while ensuring energy supply resilience. However, many industrial and transport applications still rely on combustion-based technologies due to their need for high energy densities and thermal process requirements. A promising solution lies in electrofuels (e-fuels)—synthetic fuels produced from renewable electricity and sustainable feedstocks, offering a practical and scalable route to reducing carbon emissions.

The DESIRE project (Decarbonising Energy-intenSIve industries with REnewable synthetic fuels) is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) Doctoral Network, designed to train the next generation of specialists in e-fuel utilization. DESIRE will equip 15 PhD researchers with cutting-edge expertise in combustion science, chemical kinetics, fluid dynamics, and digital modeling, preparing them to revolutionize industrial energy systems and accelerate Europe’s energy transition. This ambitious goal will be achieved by developing advanced experimental and computational tools to characterize e-fuel combustion processes, optimize fuel-flexible technologies, and integrate machine learning-driven digital twins for predictive combustion modeling. The research program will cover a wide range of e-fuels (H₂, NH₃, CH₃OH, DME, OME) and their applications in industrial furnaces, gas turbines, burners, and transport engines, ensuring compatibility with existing infrastructures.

DESIRE’s strong academic-industrial consortium, including leading universities, research institutes, and industrial partners, will provide interdisciplinary training spanning chemical and mechanical engineering, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), experimental combustion diagnostics, and techno-economic feasibility analysis. Through structured secondments, industry collaborations, and high-level scientific training, DESIRE aims to create a cohort of highly skilled researchers ready to drive the next generation of sustainable energy solutions in industry and academia.

At once, the project will pave the way for large-scale adoption of renewable synthetic fuels, enabling a climate-neutral economy while offering PhD candidates a unique opportunity to be at the forefront of Europe’s sustainable energy transformation.

The recruited researchers will be trained for 3 years and will be enrolled to a 3-year Ph.D programme at the host institution. Two secondment periods are foreseen for each candidate: a 12-month secondment at co-hosting academic institution and a 3 month secondment at one of the Associated industrial Partners.

Open position:

The position is based at ULB in Brussels, under the supervision of Professor Alessandro Parente , with academic collaboration and co-supervision by Professor Christian Hasse at TU Darmstadt , Germany.

The research programme includes secondments at TU Darmstadt , focused on computational modelling, and ENGIE , focused on the application and techno-economic assessment of hydrogen/ammonia blends for power generation. The secondment schedule will be agreed as part of the doctoral work plan.

The successful candidate will join an international network of universities and industrial partners and participate in scientific courses, transferable skills training, networking meetings, and international conferences.

Requirements

Research Field Engineering » Mechanical engineering Education Level Master Degree or equivalent

Research Field Engineering » Aerospace engineering Education Level Master Degree or equivalent

Research Field Engineering » Chemical engineering Education Level Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

Applicants should hold, or obtain before recruitment, a master’s degree or equivalent in mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, energy engineering, aerospace engineering, applied physics or a closely related discipline.

Specific Requirements

We are looking for candidates with:

• A strong foundation in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer a