PhD Position in Wireless Sensing, Networking, and IoT

We are looking for a Doctoral Researcher (PhD candidate) to join the Sensing Group. Our work sits where sensing meets networking: turning wireless and physical signals into insight, connecting constrained IoT devices, and building distributed sensing systems that are efficient and secure. If you are excited by wireless sensing, networking, IoT, and distributed sensors, this position is for you.

The role is fully funded for the entire PhD, based at the Institute of Computer Science in Vorarlberg (ICV-HSG) in Dornbirn, Austria, with support for commuting to the St. Gallen campus.

What you’ll work on

• Wireless and physical-layer sensing: inferring activity and context from ambient signals, from Wi-Fi and BLE/RF to acoustic and vibration sensing.
• Distributed sensing systems: multi-node sensor architectures, coordination and synchronization, and how computation is split across sensor, edge, and cloud.
• IoT and constrained networks: low-power and constrained protocols (LoRa, CoAP, Zigbee, MQTT) and the connectivity of resource-limited devices.
• Networking and its security: communication under bandwidth and energy limits, and the security and privacy of IoT and industrial networks.
• From research to impact: connecting scientific results to real industrial applications with our partners, plus supervising Bachelor’s and Master’s theses.

Your profile

• A Master’s degree in Computer Science or a closely related field.
• Interest or background in wireless sensing, networking, IoT, or distributed systems.
• Comfortable on Linux and with systems programming; proficiency in C/C++ and Python.
• Hands-on experience with devices and sensors. Constrained network protocols (LoRa, CoAP, Zigbee, MQTT), MCU programming, low-level interfaces (I2C, SPI, UART, BLE), and RTOS experience are all a plus.
• Excellent written and spoken English; German is a plus.
• Prior publications at ACM or IEEE venues are a plus.
• An independent, structured way of working.

What we offer

• A fully funded PhD for its entire duration, at a competitive salary per Austrian university standards.
• A place in a young, growing group at the crossroads of wireless sensing, networking, and IoT, with close industry and academic collaboration.
• Support for commuting between the Dornbirn and St. Gallen campuses.
• Executive-education opportunities, health and fitness programs, and family-friendly policies (flexible hours, parental leave, childcare support).
• Employment scope of 50 to 100 percent, starting by agreement.

How to apply

To apply, contact Prof. Dr. Bruno Rodrigues (email) with:

• your CV,
• a short cover letter,
• your transcript of grades, and
• any outstanding work or project you would like to share (thesis, paper, code, and so on).