We are Austria’s largest research and technology organisation and an international player in applied research for innovative infrastructure solutions. This makes us a powerful development partner for industry and a top employer in the scientific community. Our Center for Energy is seeking to hire new Ingenious Partners for our location in Vienna:
Our Center for Energy is offering a PhD position in Vienna. At the Center for Energy, we develop sustainable solutions for the future energy system, taking into account technological, regulatory, and economic requirements. Our research portfolio is structured around three central systems: cities & the built environment, public energy supply systems, and industrial energy systems.
The PhD thesis will be carried out within a research project aimed at advancing high-temperature solutions for industrial decarbonization. The focus is on a novel concept for converting electrical energy into heat using inductively coupled plasma (ICP), which is to be demonstrated for the first time at industrial scale. While the ICP principle has already been successfully tested in laboratory models, transferring it to industrial applications in the range of approximately 1 MW remains a challenge.
To address this open question, suitable burner geometries and operating conditions must be identified that enable efficient performance and a homogeneous temperature distribution in large-scale production systems.
PhD Thesis "Numerical and Experimental Investigations of an Inductively Coupled Plasma Burner for Industrial Applications"
Cooperation with the TU Wien
- You will carry out numerical simulations (e.g., CFD simulations, plasma physics, reduced-order modeling) to analyze the flow, heat transfer, and plasma dynamics in an inductively coupled plasma burner (ICP).
- You will design and optimize the burner geometry to achieve the most homogeneous temperature distribution possible.
- You will conduct experimental investigations, including temperature and flow measurements using LDA, in order to measure temperature homogeneity within the plasma and validate the numerical results.
- You will continuously analyze your results and derive optimization proposals for the burner design.
- Based on your validated simulation results, you will develop a reduced burner model that can be used for the design of larger industrial furnaces.
- You will publish your research findings in scientific journals and present them at conferences.
Your qualifications as an Ingenious Partner:
- Completed or near-completed Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Process Engineering, Energy Engineering, Technical Physics, or a comparable technical field
- Strong knowledge in numerical simulation (e.g., CFD simulations), heat transfer, and plasma physics
- Initial experience with experimental methods, especially temperature and flow measurements (e.g., LDA)
- High commitment and the ability to work independently as well as in an interdisciplinary team
- Strong interest in experimental research and enjoyment in collaborating with industrial and scientific partners
- Interest in writing and publishing scientific papers and in application-oriented research questions from industry
- Very good command of German and English, both written and spoken
Details:
- Duration of the PhD project: 3 years
Start date: ideally from 01.04.2026 (or earlier) - To obtain the PhD degree, you must enroll at our academic cooperation institution, TU Wien. Throughout the entire dissertation project, you will be supervised and professionally supported by both a supervisor at TU Wien, Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer, and a supervisor at AIT.
What to expect:
- EUR 2.786,10 gross per month (14 times / year) for 30 h / week.
- In addition to numerous events, seminars, networking opportunities and additional company benefits, you will be part of our AIT PhD community with around 150 international students.
At AIT diversity and inclusion are of great importance. This is why we strive to inspire women to join our teams in the field of technology. We welcome applications from women, who will be given preference in case of equal qualifications after taking into account all relevant facts and circumstances of all applications.
Please submit your documents including your CV, cover letter (ideally one page, including a brief introduction of yourself, an explanation how your previous studies and experience have prepared you for this PhD position, and a motivation why you are interested in this specific position) and your certificates (Transcript of records) online.
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