The Department of Information Security and Communication Technology at NTNU is hiring a fully funded PhD candidate in AI-driven, self-healing MAC control for 6G networks that integrate terrestrial networks with non-terrestrial platforms (LEO satellites, HAPS, UAVs). The workplace is Trondheim.
The role
- Design, implement and evaluate an AI-driven MAC control framework that detects failures, predicts degradation and recovers on its own.
- Develop AI-based link adaptation and service-aware MAC techniques that combine queueing theory, traffic modelling and machine learning to improve latency, reliability and fairness.
- Implement and validate on the department’s B5G Lab (5G equipment, open-source RAN, P4 switches, satellite ground stations to be installed).
- Complete the doctoral courses, publish, take part in conferences and research stays abroad, and teach courses in communications and networking.
Requirements
- A relevant master’s degree (wireless communications, computer networks, telecommunication engineering, or computer science with a networking focus) equal to a five-year Norwegian degree, with strong theory, ML/AI and mathematics. Master’s students may apply but need the degree by 1 August 2027.
- A master’s grade average of B or better on NTNU’s scale; weaker grades (not worse than C) can be considered if you show you are particularly suited.
- A scientific proposal of max 1,000 words (3 pages) in English. Applicants who are not native English speakers and do not master a Scandinavian language need evidence of English, for example TOEFL 92 (internet-based), Academic IELTS 6.5 with no section below 5.5, or CAE/CPE grade B or A.
- Admission to the department’s PhD programme within three months of the contract start.
- The ad states the appointment follows export-control legislation; candidates found to conflict with it cannot be employed.
About the employer
NTNU is a broad technical-scientific university with 9,000 employees and 43,000 students. The post sits in the department’s networking research group.
Salary and deadline
- Four years, full time, including teaching duties. Gross salary normally about NOK 580,000 a year (code 1017); 2% goes to the State Pension Fund.
- Deadline: 6 November 2026, through Jobbnorge (ad 308861). Applications are assessed on what has been received by the deadline.
Source: Department of Information Security and Communication Technology, NTNU, “PhD Candidate in AI Driven MAC Control for Integrated Terrestrial NTN 6G Networks”, read on 25 October 2026. Summary by AVIDE; see the original page for the full, current text.