Who are we looking for?
Would you like to work on cutting edge technological areas, such as artificial intelligence for wireless, neuromorphic computing, remote sensing, quantum communications, 6G satellite systems or ultra massive MIMO, among others?
We are looking for candidates interested in pursuing a PhD under the funding of an official grant agency. To that effect, CTTC is offering transitional contracts of one year so that candidates can start working with us while they apply for pre-doc grants in official programs. They will be expected to prepare their application in collaboration with CTTC for submission to several official predoc fellowship programs.
We are looking for highly motivated candidates, with a strong desire to learn and interest in performing cutting edge research in a truly international R&D center.
What do we offer? :
- We offer a training contract (contract of one year). Candidates are expected to submit grant applications to the official predoctoral programs with a CTTC researcher as supervisor and accept the official grant if the application is eventually successful. This will be done under the guidance of a CTTC researcher.
- Annual gross salary according to the profile of the candidate and the CTTC salary policy
- Full-time contract: 7,5 h/day. Flexibility
- CTTC category: R1A.
- Prospect start date: as soon as possible after the call is closed, but no later than six months after the formal job offer. Given the nature of this call, availability to start immediately will be positively valued.
- 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.
- We have great benefits for employees:
- Paid time off: vacation (33 working days per year), holidays, sick and parental leave and more
- Up to 3 days of Telework per week (2 fixed + 1 upon request). Other requests may be studied to accommodate special needs.
- Flexible working hours for work-life balance
- Tax-free optional benefits: restaurant ticket, nursery ticket, transport pass, private health insurance for employees and family.
- Career path promotion (either professional category and/or annual gross salary)
- Annual productivity upon performance
- Possibility to complement the salary with personal grants
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 R1A category.
- Required qualification/skills/experience:
- Candidates must have a University degree and must be/have been enrolled in an official Telecom/Electrical Engineering/Computer Science/Geomatics Master program that provides subsequent access to a PhD program according to the Spanish legal regulations.
- The last official academic degree (either Master or Bachelor) must have been obtained within the last 18 months from the closing date of the corresponding call. Exceptionally, candidates with unfinished Master degree that do not comply with this requirement will be accepted in the selection process, provided that they are in the final stages of their Master (e.g. only their final Master Thesis is pending). In case of foreign applicants, the start date of the contract may be postponed due to legal requirements (e.g. due to residence permit application procedures). In this situation, all the requirements of this call should be met at the time of signature of the contract.
- Candidates must not hold a PhD title.
- Candidates must not have had any pre-doctoral contract such as FI/FPU/FPI grants or predoctoral contracts as specified in the law of Science and Technology (4/2011, June 1, art. 21).
- Candidates must have a weighted average score of his/her Bachelor/Master degrees equal to or higher than 6.5 in a scale from 0 to 10 (see Submission procedure below for details on how this score is computed).
- Candidates are expected to submit grant applications to external predoctoral programs (at least the Catalan FI call, the Spanish FPU/FPI calls, INPhINIT calls by la Caixa Foundation, etc. and also tentatively the Industrial Doctorates Calls) and accept the official grant if the application is eventually successful.
- The academic degree that provides access to the PhD program must be finalized before the external PhD grant begins.
- Other skills that are valuable, but not mandatory are:
- Good competencies associated with their university degrees related to Telecom/Electrical Engineering/Computer Science/Geomatics.
- Strong oral and written English communication skills.
- Creativity, open-mindedness and integration skills are highly appreciated.
- Selection criteria. Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
- Weighted average score of the academic record of the candidate, computed as follows: the average score of the Bachelor Degree will be weighted by 80% and the average score of the Master Degree will be weighted by 20% (4 points).
In case of studies outside Spain, the candidate must also submit an official declaration of equivalences of the average academic score, according to the current dispositions of the Spanish Ministry of Education:
https://universidades.sede.gob.es/pagina/index/directorio/Equivalencia_notas_medias/
https://sede.educacion.gob.es/sede/login/inicio.jjsp?idConvocatoria=818
- Appropriateness of the background of the candidate in Telecoms/Electrical Engineering/ Computer Science/Geomatics, English skills and soft skills (3 points).
- In cases where applicants obtain the same score, priority will be given to female candidates and applicants from underrepresented minorities.
Even if you do not meet all the requirements, we encourage you to apply.
The candidates’ past performance but also future potential will be considered as criteria for selecting researchers.
How to apply?
All applications must include:
- A PDF document including (2 pages max): (i) Name of the candidate (ii) brief CV of the candidate, (iii) a paragraph with a description of the topics/area of interest (iv) preferred research unit and/or supervisor (optional).
- Official academic record of the candidate corresponding to his/her Bachelor and Master degree studies, including the date where the corresponding title was obtained and the average score, computed according to the criteria in Real Decreto 1125/2003 (September 5).
- In case of studies at foreign institutions, document with equivalent scores according to:
https://universidades.sede.gob.es/pagina/index/directorio/Equivalencia_notas_medias/
https://sede.educacion.gob.es/sede/login/inicio.jjsp?idConvocatoria=818
The application documents must be submitted in pdf format through this online application.
*ONLY APPLICATIONS VIA WEB https://recruitment.cttc.es/ WILL BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION.*
CVs and any other information gathered during this process will be handled confidentially
Who are we?
- The Center Tecnològic de Telecomunicaciones 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.