PhD recruitment - open positions
Overview of PhD projects at the ILL
The Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble (France) is an international research laboratory that operates the world's most intense neutron source.
We are offering fully funded 3-year PhD projects for doctoral students in a variety of scientific fields (condensed matter physics, chemistry, materials science, particle & nuclear physics, biology & health, soft condensed matter, Instrumentation) using different techniques in neutron scattering (neutron diffraction, neutron spectroscopy, triple-axis, time-of-flight, backscattering, spin-echo, small angle neutron scattering, neutron reflectivity).
The successful PhD candidate will work mostly at the ILL in Grenoble but be enrolled in a university from one of the ILL's member countries: France, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Czech Republic, Sweden, Slovakia, Denmark, Poland, Slovenia. However, the PhD student does not need to have any particular nationality.
A thesis boosted by state-of-the-art science!
We believe that ILL has an essential role to play in training tomorrow's scientists. Every year our PhD Graduate School offers thesis projects guaranteeing high-quality scientific supervision and personalised guidance, thanks to the strengths of our instrument suite and the expertise of our staff.
We also recruit post-doctoral staff, in the framework of various partnerships, European programmes and Marie Curie projects.
Keep in touch with the opportunities by regularly scanning our vacancy pages.
PhD projects offered in 2026
The following PhD projects have been made available in 2025/2026, and are looking for suitable student candidates.
If you are interested in applying for one of the open PhD positions, please click on the project title for information on how to apply, or contact directly the academic and ILL supervisors by clicking on their names.
Scientific domains of the ILL's PhD projects
MAG Magnetism & Superconductivity | MAT Materials Science | SCM Soft Condensed Matter | B&H Biology & Health | NPP Nuclear & Particle Physics | IME Instruments, Methods & Engineering
| PhD Nb | Domain | Project title (click for description and application instructions) | University | Academic (external) supervisor | ILL (local) supervisor | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SE-4 |
MAT |
Lund University, SE |
Elizabeth BLACKBURN |
Arno HIESS, |
OPEN |
|
SE-5 |
IME |
UltraClay – Towards low-cost scalable structural carbon-based clay ultracapacitor |
Chalmers University of Technology, SE |
Jelke DIJKSTRA |
Alessandro TENGATTINI |
OPEN |
PL-1 |
MAT |
Fast and slow dynamics of glass-forming systems under confinement |
University of Silesia, PL |
Student appointed |
||
AT-1 |
SCM |
Integrating Mesoscale Membrane Dynamics into the Analysis of Lipid Vesicles |
Unversität Graz, AT |
OPEN |
||
AT-2 |
NPP |
Advanced neutron-interferometery for studies of foundation of quantum mechanics |
TU Wien, AT |
Yuji HASEGAWA |
Hartmut LEMMEL |
Student appointed |
AT-3 |
NPP |
Quantum Computing with a Single Neutron (QCN) |
TU Wien, AT |
Hartmut ABELE |
Tobias JENKE |
Student appointed |
AT-4 |
MAG |
TU Wien, AT |
Student appointed |
|||
CH-1 |
LSS |
ETH Zürich/PSI, CH |
Ashley WILLIAMS Viviane LUTZ-BUENO |
Lionel PORCAR |
Student appointed |
|
ES-1 |
SCM |
Protein-Mimetic Folding and Dynamics in Heterograft Single-Chain Polymer Nanoparticles |
CSIC-UPV/EHU, ES |
Student appointed |
||
NS26 |
LSS |
Lipid Droplets as Biophysical Models for Understanding Viral Replication (LYON) |
University of Bristol, UK |
Anna BRATEK-SKICKI Jian LU David CHEUNG |
Dominika ZAKUTNA |
OPEN |
NS26 |
DIFF |
In situ neutron diffraction for green steel and functional transition metal oxides |
Universität Leipzig, DE |
Holger KOHLMANN |
Thomas HANSEN |
OPEN |
NS26 |
LSS |
Université du Mans, FR |
Olivier COLOMBIANI Simon HARRISSON Jutta RIEGER |
Ralf SCHWEINS |
OPEN |
|
NS26 |
LSS |
University of Tübingen, DE |
Frank SCHREIBER |
Philipp GUTFREUND |
OPEN |
|
NS26 |
LSS |
École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, FR |
Carlos MARQUES |
Apostolos VAGIAS |
OPEN |
|
NS26 |
DIFF |
Beyond binary: Multistate spintronics in magnetoelectric antiferromagnets |
Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, DK |
Niels BECH CHRISTENSEN |
Navid QURESHI |
OPEN |
NS26 |
LSS |
University of Manchester, UK |
John FRANCIS Matthew ROY Philip WHITHERS |
Bratislav LUKIC |
OPEN |