PhD in Forward Error Correction for Optical Quantum-Secured Networks

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Testo originale dell'annuncio (in inglese)

Ever wondered what keeps your data flawless, and secret, as it travels through an optical fibre, even against the quantum computers on the horizon? The answer is error-correcting codes: clever maths that repairs errors invisibly, in real time. As AI pushes data demand ever higher and quantum computers threaten today's encryption, future optical links will need to be faster and more secure than ever, and these codes are central to both. Wanna help shape this key technology behind reliable and secure optical communications? Come join us as a PhD student, designing the error-correcting codes behind tomorrow's quantum optical networks, within the European QuNEST network. Information You will analyse and design advanced Forward Error Correction (FEC) codes for high-throughput optical communication systems, whether building on established families such as LDPC, polar, and spatially-coupled codes or inventing entirely new ones. A key application of your work will be information reconciliation for quantum key distribution (QKD), where you will adapt both the codes and their decoders to the specific security and performance requirements of QKD protocols. Beyond QKD, you are encouraged to explore open problems in coding for classical optical channels, such as low-power schemes for data-centre interconnects or code constructions for nonlinear fibre transmission. The role is deliberately broad within the FEC space, leaving room to pursue the directions that best match your interests and strengths. You will join the Information and Communication Theory Lab (ICT Lab) at TU/e, an international and diverse group focused on information and communication theory and its applications including classical and quantum optical and wireless communication systems. This PhD sits within "QuNEST – Quantum Enhanced Optical Communication Network Security Doctoral Training," a Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Network built on a consortium of six academic and eleven industrial partners across seven European countries. Best of all, you will not do this alone: you will be part of a vibrant, international cohort of 11 doctoral candidates who train, travel, and tackle the challenges of quantum-secure communication together, meeting regularly at joint schools, workshops, and network events across Europe. Alongside this, you will benefit from cross-disciplinary training spanning communications, quantum physics, and photonics, and spend time abroad with host institutions, typically for 2–6 months. Your work will feed directly into the next generation of secure optical communication infrastructure, an area of rising societal and industrial importance as data networks face growing demands for both capacity and protection. You will be supervised by Dr Gabriele Liga at TU/e ( https://www.tue.nl/en/research/researchers/gabriele-liga ), and will carry out secondments at various European institutions, such as the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany) with Prof. Laurent Schmalen or Nokia Bell Labs (Paris, France) with Dr Amirhossein Ghazisaeidi. MSCA-DN Eligibility Rules The candidate cannot already be in possession of a doctoral degree at the date of recruitment. Mobility rule: the candidate must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the Netherlands for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date.