PhD on Data-Driven Digital Twins for Flexible Demanufacturing Systems

About the role

Four-year fully funded PhD at KU Leuven on data-driven digital twins for flexible demanufacturing, the disassembly and recovery of components from end-of-life products in the circular economy. The project sits inside the Department of Mechanical Engineering and collaborates with European industry partners building automated disassembly cells. Deadline 3 June 2026.

Responsibilities

• Build digital twin models of demanufacturing cells, fusing sensor data, vision, and process simulation.
• Develop adaptive control and scheduling algorithms for variable end-of-life inputs.
• Validate models against real-world disassembly experiments at KU Leuven and partner sites.
• Publish in Journal of Manufacturing Systems, CIRP Annals, and IEEE Robotics conferences.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in mechanical engineering, mechatronics, electrical engineering, or computer science.
• Programming proficiency in Python and C++; familiarity with ROS is a plus.
• Solid grounding in control theory, machine learning, or simulation.
• Fluent English. Dutch is welcomed but not required.

Nice to have

• Background in robotics, manufacturing automation, or digital twin development.
• Experience with industrial sensors, computer vision pipelines, or PLC programming.
• Interest in sustainability and circular economy applications.

How to apply

Open KU Leuven’s jobsite at the apply link and search “Digital Twins Demanufacturing” or job-ID once the listing is open. Submit CV, transcripts, motivation letter, Master’s thesis, and two references via the KU Leuven application form before 3 June 2026.