Marie Curie PhD vacancy (DC8) for PhD research titled "Additive manufacturing of ceramics with complex surfaces for small-scale turbomachinery"

About the position

Marie Curie PhD vacancy (DC8) for PhD research titled "Additive manufacturing of ceramics with complex surfaces for small-scale turbomachinery"

Research Field: Engineering » Materials engineering

Researcher Profile: First Stage Researcher (R1)

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?: Horizon Europe - MSCA

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?: No

KU Leuven seeks a highly motivated PhD candidate for a fully funded, four-year international doctoral position within the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Doctoral Network (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 this EU project, this PhD researcher (DC8) will focus on the complete indirect DLP/SLA additive manufacturing route for silicon nitride turbomachinery components.

This involves the development of a UV-curable Si3N4 slurry, optimization of DLP/SLA printing strategies for reference parts and complex components such as impellers, and the post-printing debinding and sintering process to obtain fully dense complex near-net-shaped ceramic components.

Develop a UV-curable Si3N4 slurry and optimize DLP/SLA printing strategies for reference parts and complex components

The project includes potential international secondments at EPFL (Switzerland), Admatec Additive Solutions (The Netherlands) and IFW (Germany).

The researcher is supervised by Prof.

Jozef Vleugels (https://www.kuleuven.be/wieiswie/nl/person/00006337), head of the Functional Materials Division (FUNMAT) and coordinator of the Advanced Ceramics and Powder Metallurgy research group at the Department of Materials Engineering.

The research group has a long track record (>35 years) on the powder metallurgical development, processing and characterisaton of ceramics, cermets, metcers and metals.

More information on the website (https://www.mtm.kuleuven.be/english/research/siem/ACPM)

During my courses, master thesis or prior professional activities, I have gathered basic experience on the processing of ceramics, additive manufacturing, microstructural and mechanical characterization or I have a profound interest in these topics.

Conduct research in a stimulating international environment with access to state-of-the-art facilities and supervision by recognised experts

Recruitment will be carried out and monitored in full accordance with the principles of the European Charter for Researchers, the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers, and the Doctoral Network mobility rules.

Research Field: Engineering

Years of Research Experience: None

What you’ll bring

• Applicants must be doctoral candidates (i.e., not already hold a doctoral degree) and be eligible under the MSCA Doctoral Network rules at the time of recruitment
• Applicants must have a two-year master's degree in Materials Engineering, Materials Science, or an equivalent master degree, or a similar degree with an academic level equivalent to a two-year master's degree.
• Full list of credits and grades of both BSc and MSc degrees (as well as their transcription to English if possible) – mandatory (when you have not finished your degree yet, just provide us with the partial list of already available credits and grades)
• An English version of your MSc thesis, or of a recent publication or assignment - if available
• Eligibility criteria
• Research Field: Engineering
• Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent
• Languages: ENGLISH
• Level: Good
• Research Field: Engineering » Materials engineering
• Years of Research Experience: None

At a glance

Position type

PhD

Institution

KU Leuven

Department

Department of Materials Engineering

Research group

Not stated

Location

Leuven, Belgium, BE

Supervisor / contact person

Prof. Jozef Vleugels

Funding

Fully funded
Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?: Horizon Europe - MSCA
KU Leuven seeks a highly motivated PhD candidate for a fully funded, four-year international doctoral position within the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Doctoral Network (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.
Salary and appointment terms:
Doctoral Candidates will benefit from a competitive salary, paid leave (in accordance with institutional regulations), and access to national social security schemes.
Salary and appointment terms:
Doctoral Candidates will benefit from a competitive salary, paid leave (in accordance with institutional regulations), and access to national social security schemes.

Duration

Not stated

Expected start

Not stated

Vacancy reference

EURAXESS-467855

Research focus

Discipline

Materials Science

Research area

Ceramics, Metallurgy, Surfaces & interfaces

Methods

Not stated

Software

Not stated

Dates to know

Listed on FOSS Positions

28 Sep 2026

Original advertisement date

Not stated in the source

Application deadline

30 Nov 2026 · 23:59 UTC

Priority review date

Not stated

Last checked

28 Sep 2026

Last updated

28 Sep 2026

2026-11-30T23:59:00+00:00

How to apply

Application Deadline: 30 Nov 2026 - 23:59 (UTC)
Please note that this position is part of a consortium involving several partner universities. By submitting your application, you consent to your personal data, CV and motivation letter being shared with and accessible to the relevant members of the consortium for the purposes of the recruitment and selection process.
Follow the KU Leuven job application tool and enclose:
Where to apply
Please note that this position is part of a consortium involving several partner universities. By submitting your application, you consent to your personal data, CV and motivation letter being shared with and accessible to the relevant members of the consortium for the purposes of the recruitment and selection process.
Follow the KU Leuven job application tool and enclose:
Apply now

https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60758736?hl=en

Contact: jozef.vleugels@kuleuven.be

Original sources

https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/467855 ↗

https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60758736?hl=en ↗