Ptychographic Microscope for Advanced Metrology and Inspection

1 - Working at the VUB

For more than 50 years, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has stood for freedom, equality and solidarity, and this is very much alive on our campuses among students and staff alike. 

At the VUB, you will find a diverse collection of personalities: innovators pur sang, but above all people who are 100% their authentic selves. With some 4,000 employees, we are the largest Dutch-speaking employer, in the private sector, in Brussels; an international city with which we are only too happy to connect and where (around) our 4 campuses are located. 

Add to this our principle of free research - in which self-reflection, a critical attitude and an open, creative mind around scientific and social issues are central - and you have a university that is fundamentally groundbreaking and pioneering in education and research. In short: the VUB all over again. 

Moreover, the VUB is a member of EUTOPIA, an alliance of like-minded European universities, all ready to reinvent themselves.

2 - Position description

The Faculty of Engineering, Department Elektronica en informatica, Research Group Electronics and Informatics: Research – Development - Innovation is looking for a PhD-student with a doctoral grant. 

More concretely your work package, for the preparation of a doctorate, contains: 

Designing novel non-destructive nanometer-scale multidimensional imaging technology at high resolution and high field-of-view with depth information.

The Department of Electronics and Informatics (ETRO), an imec research group at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), has an open research position for a talented and motivated researcher.

Project

Ptychographic imaging offers valuable insights into both the properties of non-carbon materials and biological processes that are label-free. However, current microscope systems are often expensive, bulky, and have limitations in terms of accuracy, speed, and adaptability across various use cases. This project aims to develop a compact, scalable, and cost-effective microscope system based on coherent diffractive imaging technique using advanced optics and imaging techniques suitable for diverse applications, where conventional microscopes face challenges such as label requirement, short working distance, and limited Field of view and resolution, restricting their ability for label-free, high-accurate inspection. By integrating the Ptychographic method with advanced optics and illumination, this project aims to overcome these limitations and enable a superior imaging methodology.

The work will focus on enhancing optical components, designing custom spectral filters, and optimizing illumination settings. You will take responsibility for the design, fabrication, and characterization of key elements of the system, with an emphasis on precision metrology to ensure reliability and reproducibility. The system should include a well-designed, extensible interface to support additional common sensor types, as needed by users.

The project includes building embedded processing pipelines that reduce raw data at the sensor level. You will develop AI and machine learning algorithms for anomaly detection, pattern recognition, and efficient data compression. To ensure practical usability, these models will also be optimized to run efficiently on edge hardware, with support for cloud-based data storage and remote access when needed.

Real-world test cases will include semiconductor metrology for deep 3D trench inspection, biomedical breast cancer classification in pathology, and aquaculture water monitoring for microorganism detection. These scenarios provide practical environments to validate the system’s performance. A similar architecture can be adapted for use in multiple sectors of environmental monitoring, food safety, and industrial inspection.

Who we are: A university research group at imec-VUB in Brussels, with expertise in optical imaging systems and signal processing

Responsibilities:

• Design of optical setup
• Optical system analysis and simulation
• Material characterization
• Developing AI/ML algorithms
• Literature review and preparation of journal publications

Type of work: 40% setup and experiments, 40% modeling/simulation, 20% literature review and design.

For this function, our Brussels Humanities, Sciences & Engineering Campus (Elsene) will serve as your home base. 

3 - Profile

What do we expect from you?

• Master’s degree in Photonics, Electronics, Physics, or Computer Science 

• You will be comfortable working across the imaging system, including optical design, simulation, embedded computing, and applied AI.
• You should be comfortable working at the intersection of hardware and software in different sectors and be interested in developing sensing systems that are accurate, efficient, and usable outside the lab.
• Required background: Engineering Technology, Optical Engineering, Computer Engineering

• You have not performed any works in the execution of a mandate as an assistant, paid from operating resources, over a total (cumulated) period of more than 12 months.

• As a (non-)EEA national, meet the conditions for obtaining a valid permit for VUB and comply with the VUB residence requirements. More info here.

The VUB wants to be a reflection of the society where everyone's talent is valued, regardless of gender, age, religion, skin color, migration background, disability and neurodiversity.

4 - Offer

Are you going to be our new colleague?

You’ll be offered a full-time PhD-scholarship, for 12 months (extendable up to max. 48 months, on condition of the positive evaluation of the PhD activities), with planned starting date 01/01/2026. 

You’ll receive a grant linked to one of the scales set by the government.

IMPORTANT: The effective result of the doctorate scholarship is subject to the condition precedent of your enrolment as a doctorate student at the university.

At the VUB, you’re guaranteed an open, involved and diverse workplace where you are offered opportunities to (further) build on your career.

As well as this, you will also enjoy various other benefits:

• Extensive homeworking options, a telework allowance of 50 euros per month OR an internet fee of 20 euros per month;
• An open and informal working environment where attention is paid to work-life balance, and exceptional holiday arrangements with 35 days of leave (based on a fulltime contract), closure between Christmas and New Year and 3 extra leave days;
• Cost-free hospitalisation insurance;
• Full reimbursement of your home-to-work commute with public transport according to VUB-policy, and/or compensation if you come by bike; 
• A wide selection of meals in our campus restaurants at attractive prices;
• Excellent and affordable facilities for sport and exercise, a range of discounts via Benefits@Work (in  all kinds of shops, on flights, in petrol stations, amusement parks...) and Ecocheques; 
• Nursery near campus, discount on holiday camps; 
• The space to form your job content and to continuously learn through our VUB learning platforms and training courses;
• And finally: great colleagues with a healthy drive.

5 - Interested?

Is this the job you’ve been dreaming of?

Then apply, at the latest on 01/12/2025, via jobs.vub.be, and upload the following documents:

• your CV;
• your motivation letter;
• your diploma (not applicable for VUB alumni).

Our application process is as follows (subject to change):

• step 1: an initial selection based on your application file; 
• step 2: a job interview.

Do you have questions about the job content? Contact David Blinder at David.Blinder@vub.be or on +32 (0)2 629 1694.

Would you like to know what it’s like to work at the VUB? Go to jobs.vub.be, and find all there is to know about our campuses, benefits, strategic goals and your future colleagues.

Would you like more information about EUTOPIA? Go to eutopia-university.eu, and read more about the role of the VUB in the development of the EUTOPIA alliance.