Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC)
CALL 28-2025-1 Predoctoral Contract on Signal Processing for XL-MIMO
Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC), Villa Espana Colonia, Texas, United States
Organisation/Company Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC) Research Field Technology » Telecommunications technology Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions Master Positions Country Spain Application Deadline 2 Jan 2026 - 23:59 (UTC) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 37.5 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? European Union / Next Generation EU Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No
Offer Description Who are we looking for ?
The ISPIC research unit is seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate to work in the field of Extra-Large MIMO (XL-MIMO) communications, also known as ultra-massive MIMO. This emerging technology dramatically scales up antenna arrays to enhance connectivity, reliability, and service quality for next-generation wireless networks such as 6G.
The doctoral work will take place within the WAVE-XL project (PID2024-160457OB-I00) under the tentative thesis title: “ Array Signal Processing for Extra-Large MIMO Communications: A Holographic Perspective .” The research will aim to uncover the fundamental limits of XL-MIMO systems and develop new models, signal processing methods, artificial intelligence (AI) tools, and optimization algorithms grounded in electromagnetic (EM) principles. The project is inherently interdisciplinary, bridging communication theory, signal processing, antennas, and electromagnetics.
The research plan will cover two major challenges central to the development of XL-MIMO technology: near-field effects and deployment costs:
Near-field operation, where the transmission distance becomes comparable to the array size, requires new propagation models and enables significant enhancements such as increased channel capacity, exploitation of a third polarization dimension, beamfocusing capabilities, and Location Division Multiple Access (LDMA).
Cost and implementation complexity remain significant obstacles for building extremely large arrays. However, emerging solutions (including holographic metasurfaces and wave-domain processing) offer promising paths toward scalable, cost-effective architectures.
By advancing both theoretical foundations and practical transceiver designs, the project aims to overcome these challenges and contribute to the efficient deployment of XL-MIMO technologies in future 6G systems.
Research Field Technology » Telecommunications technology Education Level Master Degree or equivalent
Skills/Qualifications
Qualifications and Experience
We are looking for a highly motivated, enthusiastic, energetic person, aiming at significantly improving his or her career perspectives in both public and private sectors. The successful applicant should have the competencies of the R1A category and will be considered aspredoctoral research staff in training.
At the time of the formalization of the contract :
Candidates must have a degree of Licenciado, Engineer, Architect, or a University Graduate degree with at least 300 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) credits, or a Master’s degree, or an equivalent qualification.
Candidates must have been admitted to a doctoral program.
Candidates cannot have a previous PhD degree.
Other skills that are valuable, but not mandatory are:
Good competencies associated with their university degrees, especially in the field of signal processing, communications and/or electromagnetics, and good competence in mathematics.
Strong oral and written English communication skills.
Creativity, open-mindedness and integration skills are highly appreciated.
Even if you do not meet all the technical requirements, we encourage you to apply.Selection will be based on the following criteria:
Criterion 1.
Academic and/or scientific-technical background of the candidate (up to 50 points).
Subcriterion 1.a): Scientific-technical contributions (up to 45 points). The candidate’s academic record and other curricular achievements will be assessed, as well as their relevance to the tasks to be performed, based on the candidate’s training and professional experience.
Subcriterion 1.b): Mobility and internationalization (up to 5 points). The relevance and impact of the candidate’s stays at national and international research centers and/or in the industrial sector on their research career will be evaluated, taking into account the prestige of the host institution and the activities carried out during the stay.
Criterion 2.
Suitability of the candidate for the research activities to be undertaken (up to 50 points). The candidate’s suitability for the program, project, or research activities to be carried out will be evaluated, based on their prior training and experience. The added value that the project will represent for the candidate’s research career, as well as the value contributed to the host center and research team, will also be taken into consideration.
Languages ENGLISH Level Excellent
Additional Information What do we offer?
We offer a 4 year predoctoral contract in the framework of the WAVE-XL project ( PID2024-160457OB-I00) funded by the MICIU/AEI /10.13039/501100011033 /FEDER, UE.
Annual gross salary according to the EPIF (RD 103/2019) and CTTC salary tables applicable to predoctoral researchers (R1A). Full-time contract: 7,5 h/day. Flexibility.
Career development opportunities within CTTC depending on performance, research results and availability of future positions.
Continuous training, access to lab facilities, state of the art infrastructure and polyvalent working spaces, participation in scientific events and R&D projects, complementary skills development.
Enrolment in a PhD Program (PhD fees paid by CTTC).
We have great benefits for employees :
Paid time off: vacation (33 working days per year), holidays, sick and parental leave and more, according to CTTC collective agreement and internal policies
Up to 3 days of Telework per week (2 fixed + 1 upon request). Other requests may be studied to accommodate special needs. W orking time policy
Selection process
How to apply?
All applications must include:
A complete CV, including a list of publications and the contact details of two potential referees
Transcripts of the BSc and MSc degrees.
Copy of the BSc degree diploma (and MSc degree diploma, if available).
Cover letter stating the motivation and suitability of the candidate.
The application documents must be submitted in pdf format through this online application.
*ONLY APPLICATIONS VIA WEB WILL BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION.*
CVs and any other information gathered during this process will be handled confidentially.
Additional comments
Who are we?
The Center Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC) is a non-profit
public sector
research institution dedicated to fundamental and applied research activities, focused mainly on technologies related to the physical, data link and network layers of communication systems and Geomatics.
CTTC received the “HR Excellence in Research” award in 2015 from the European Commission and successfully passed into the Award Renewal phase in 2023. This is a recognition of the Institute’s commitment to develop a Human Resources Strategy for Researchers ( HRS4R ), designed to bring the practices and procedures in line with the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers ( Charter and Code ). Our institution's comprehensive analysis and HRS4R action plan meet all the requirements of progress and quality of our HR policies. CTTC promotes itself as a provider of a stimulating and favourable work environment for researchers.
The CTTC is located in the beautiful Mediterranean Technological Park of Castelldefels, a science park that houses the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, research institutions, innovative companies and startups. The PMT-UPC is located 10 minutes' walk from the beach and the city center of Castelldefels, also close to childcare centers, public schools and the best international schools. It can be reached by car, train (RENFE) and various bus lines.
We have 2 buildings on campus, with state-of-the-art facilities, comfortable work spaces, meeting rooms, and multipurpose spaces, as well as social spaces.
The institute has
a multicultural environment
with more than 130 members (scientific, technical and administrative staff) from all over the world.
CTTC offers and promotes a diverse and inclusive environment and welcomes applicants regardless of age, disability, gender, national origin, race, religion, or sexual orientation.
The CTTC seeks to increase the presence of women in those areas where they are underrepresented and therefore explicitly encourages them to stand as candidates.
It is also committed to increasing the number of people with disabilities in its workforce and therefore encourages their applications.
Work Location(s) Number of offers available 1 Company/Institute Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya Country Spain State/Province Barcelona City Barcelona Postal Code 08860 Street Av. Carl Friedrich Gauss, 7 Geofield
#J-18808-Ljbffr
Offer Description Who are we looking for ?
The ISPIC research unit is seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate to work in the field of Extra-Large MIMO (XL-MIMO) communications, also known as ultra-massive MIMO. This emerging technology dramatically scales up antenna arrays to enhance connectivity, reliability, and service quality for next-generation wireless networks such as 6G.
The doctoral work will take place within the WAVE-XL project (PID2024-160457OB-I00) under the tentative thesis title: “ Array Signal Processing for Extra-Large MIMO Communications: A Holographic Perspective .” The research will aim to uncover the fundamental limits of XL-MIMO systems and develop new models, signal processing methods, artificial intelligence (AI) tools, and optimization algorithms grounded in electromagnetic (EM) principles. The project is inherently interdisciplinary, bridging communication theory, signal processing, antennas, and electromagnetics.
The research plan will cover two major challenges central to the development of XL-MIMO technology: near-field effects and deployment costs:
Near-field operation, where the transmission distance becomes comparable to the array size, requires new propagation models and enables significant enhancements such as increased channel capacity, exploitation of a third polarization dimension, beamfocusing capabilities, and Location Division Multiple Access (LDMA).
Cost and implementation complexity remain significant obstacles for building extremely large arrays. However, emerging solutions (including holographic metasurfaces and wave-domain processing) offer promising paths toward scalable, cost-effective architectures.
By advancing both theoretical foundations and practical transceiver designs, the project aims to overcome these challenges and contribute to the efficient deployment of XL-MIMO technologies in future 6G systems.
Research Field Technology » Telecommunications technology Education Level Master Degree or equivalent
Skills/Qualifications
Qualifications and Experience
We are looking for a highly motivated, enthusiastic, energetic person, aiming at significantly improving his or her career perspectives in both public and private sectors. The successful applicant should have the competencies of the R1A category and will be considered aspredoctoral research staff in training.
At the time of the formalization of the contract :
Candidates must have a degree of Licenciado, Engineer, Architect, or a University Graduate degree with at least 300 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) credits, or a Master’s degree, or an equivalent qualification.
Candidates must have been admitted to a doctoral program.
Candidates cannot have a previous PhD degree.
Other skills that are valuable, but not mandatory are:
Good competencies associated with their university degrees, especially in the field of signal processing, communications and/or electromagnetics, and good competence in mathematics.
Strong oral and written English communication skills.
Creativity, open-mindedness and integration skills are highly appreciated.
Even if you do not meet all the technical requirements, we encourage you to apply.Selection will be based on the following criteria:
Criterion 1.
Academic and/or scientific-technical background of the candidate (up to 50 points).
Subcriterion 1.a): Scientific-technical contributions (up to 45 points). The candidate’s academic record and other curricular achievements will be assessed, as well as their relevance to the tasks to be performed, based on the candidate’s training and professional experience.
Subcriterion 1.b): Mobility and internationalization (up to 5 points). The relevance and impact of the candidate’s stays at national and international research centers and/or in the industrial sector on their research career will be evaluated, taking into account the prestige of the host institution and the activities carried out during the stay.
Criterion 2.
Suitability of the candidate for the research activities to be undertaken (up to 50 points). The candidate’s suitability for the program, project, or research activities to be carried out will be evaluated, based on their prior training and experience. The added value that the project will represent for the candidate’s research career, as well as the value contributed to the host center and research team, will also be taken into consideration.
Languages ENGLISH Level Excellent
Additional Information What do we offer?
We offer a 4 year predoctoral contract in the framework of the WAVE-XL project ( PID2024-160457OB-I00) funded by the MICIU/AEI /10.13039/501100011033 /FEDER, UE.
Annual gross salary according to the EPIF (RD 103/2019) and CTTC salary tables applicable to predoctoral researchers (R1A). Full-time contract: 7,5 h/day. Flexibility.
Career development opportunities within CTTC depending on performance, research results and availability of future positions.
Continuous training, access to lab facilities, state of the art infrastructure and polyvalent working spaces, participation in scientific events and R&D projects, complementary skills development.
Enrolment in a PhD Program (PhD fees paid by CTTC).
We have great benefits for employees :
Paid time off: vacation (33 working days per year), holidays, sick and parental leave and more, according to CTTC collective agreement and internal policies
Up to 3 days of Telework per week (2 fixed + 1 upon request). Other requests may be studied to accommodate special needs. W orking time policy
Selection process
How to apply?
All applications must include:
A complete CV, including a list of publications and the contact details of two potential referees
Transcripts of the BSc and MSc degrees.
Copy of the BSc degree diploma (and MSc degree diploma, if available).
Cover letter stating the motivation and suitability of the candidate.
The application documents must be submitted in pdf format through this online application.
*ONLY APPLICATIONS VIA WEB WILL BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION.*
CVs and any other information gathered during this process will be handled confidentially.
Additional comments
Who are we?
The Center Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya (CTTC) is a non-profit
public sector
research institution dedicated to fundamental and applied research activities, focused mainly on technologies related to the physical, data link and network layers of communication systems and Geomatics.
CTTC received the “HR Excellence in Research” award in 2015 from the European Commission and successfully passed into the Award Renewal phase in 2023. This is a recognition of the Institute’s commitment to develop a Human Resources Strategy for Researchers ( HRS4R ), designed to bring the practices and procedures in line with the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers ( Charter and Code ). Our institution's comprehensive analysis and HRS4R action plan meet all the requirements of progress and quality of our HR policies. CTTC promotes itself as a provider of a stimulating and favourable work environment for researchers.
The CTTC is located in the beautiful Mediterranean Technological Park of Castelldefels, a science park that houses the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, research institutions, innovative companies and startups. The PMT-UPC is located 10 minutes' walk from the beach and the city center of Castelldefels, also close to childcare centers, public schools and the best international schools. It can be reached by car, train (RENFE) and various bus lines.
We have 2 buildings on campus, with state-of-the-art facilities, comfortable work spaces, meeting rooms, and multipurpose spaces, as well as social spaces.
The institute has
a multicultural environment
with more than 130 members (scientific, technical and administrative staff) from all over the world.
CTTC offers and promotes a diverse and inclusive environment and welcomes applicants regardless of age, disability, gender, national origin, race, religion, or sexual orientation.
The CTTC seeks to increase the presence of women in those areas where they are underrepresented and therefore explicitly encourages them to stand as candidates.
It is also committed to increasing the number of people with disabilities in its workforce and therefore encourages their applications.
Work Location(s) Number of offers available 1 Company/Institute Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya Country Spain State/Province Barcelona City Barcelona Postal Code 08860 Street Av. Carl Friedrich Gauss, 7 Geofield
#J-18808-Ljbffr