Marie Curie PhD vacancy

Mechanical Engineering Department - Additive Manufacturing Team

Organisation/Company KU LEUVEN Department Mechanical Engineering Department - Additive Manufacturing Team Research Field Engineering » Mechanical engineering Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Application Deadline 30 Nov 2026 - 23:59 (UTC) Country Belgium Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Offer Starting Date 1 Feb 2027 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - MSCA Reference Number BAP-2026-594 Marie Curie Grant Agreement Number 101311350 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

KU Leuven seeks a highly motivated PhD candidate for a fully funded, four-year international doctoral position within the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Doctoral Networks (MSCA-DN) project TURBO-IMPACT (TURBOmachinery Innovative Manufacturing, Processing, Analysis, Characterization, and Topology ; Website: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101311350 ). The TurboImpact project, funded by Horizon Europe – MSCA-DN, tackles challenges in designing, optimizing, selecting materials, and manufacturing small-scale turbomachinery for applications in heat pumps, fuel cells, organic Rankine cycles, or gas turbines. This project develops robust system and component design methods, an integrated manufacturing platform, and multi-material joining techniques to efficiently produce small-scale turbomachinery. In that large EU project, This PhD researcher (DC7) will work at KU Leuven and focus on increasing the fundamental understanding of multi-metal Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing for small-scale turbomachinery. Metals with high temperature-resistance will be targeted with special focus on the relation between material characteristics, LPBF process parameters, and resulting mechanical performance.

• Use and extend beyond state-of-the-art equipment available in Leuven and investigate 1D and 3D powder deposition strategies inside LPBF equipment
• Design and validate a multi-physical digital model to predict ideal LPBF parameters and scanning strategies with focus on the interface regions
• Study the influence of local laser remelting on surface properties, porosity and general interface quality
• Investigate the relationship between material, process, and final properties

The project includes potential international secondments at DTU (Prof. G. Bissacco, Denmark) and Amnovis (Dr. R. Wauthle, Belgium). The researcher is supervised by Prof. Brecht Van Hooreweder ( www.kuleuven.be/wieiswie/en/person/00059721 ), director of Leuven.AM and head of the AM team. The AM team currently counts >25 researchers and is pioneering in metal AM since 1990. More information on the website ( www.mech.kuleuven.be/en/research/am/ ) or linkedIn ( www.linkedin.com/company/amkul ).

Eligibility criteria

• I have a master degree in engineering, physics or mathematics and performed above average in comparison to my peers. I am not in possession of a doctoral degree at the date of recruitment.
• I am proficient in written and spoken English.
• During my courses or prior professional activities, I have gathered some basic experience with the basic physical principles of additive manufacturing and/or with the basic principles of manufacturing and mechanical behavior of materials or I have a profound interest in these topics.
• I demonstrate a strong sense of initiative and responsibility, while also being an effective and collaborative team player.
• Based on interactions and discussions with my supervisors and the colleagues in my team, I set up and update a plan of approach for the upcoming 1 to 3 months to work towards my research goals. I work with a sufficient degree of independence to follow my plan and achieve the goals. I indicate timely when deviations of the plan are required, if goals cannot be met or if I want to discuss intermediate results or issues.
• In frequent reporting, varying between weekly to monthly, I show the results that I have obtained and I give a well-founded interpretation of those results. I iterate on my work and my approach based on the feedback of my supervisors who steer the direction of my research.
• I feel comfortable to work as a team member and I am eager to share my results to inspire and be inspired by my colleagues.
• Applicants must have a two-year master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Computer Science, Data Science, Software Engineering, or a similar degree with an academic level equivalent to a two-year master's degree.
• Special requirements: In accordance with the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network regulations:
  • Applicants must comply with the MSCA Mobility Rule. At the time of recruitment, candidates must not have resided or carried out