Postdoctoral Scholar - RF​/mm-Wave Integrated Circuit Design

Salary range: A reasonable estimate for this position is $71,491-$85,736, based on experience level at time of hire. See salary scale here

Open date:
October 13, 2026

Next review date:
Friday, Oct 30, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time) Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date:
Tuesday, Oct 12, 2027 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time) Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

Nanoscale Communication Integrated Circuits (NCIC) Laboratory

Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California, Irvine

The NCIC Laboratory, directed by Prof. Payam Heydari, is seeking a Postdoctoral Scholar to lead circuit and system design on a project developing a reconfigurable wideband transceiver for next-generation wireless systems. The work spans a custom silicon transceiver in advanced CMOS, a high-throughput digital baseband implemented on an RF System-on-Chip FPGA, and over-the-air demonstration with industry partners. Multiple tape-outs and full hardware bring-up occur within the appointment period, so the position suits someone who wants ownership of silicon from architecture through measured results rather than a purely simulation-based role.

• Architect and design RF and mm-wave building blocks (LNAs, power amplifiers, mixers, phase shifters, frequency synthesizers, wideband analog baseband) through layout, verification, and tape-out.
• Implement and program the digital baseband on an AMD FPGA platform; integrate the FPGA subsystem with the custom silicon front end.
• Lead laboratory bring-up and characterization of fabricated chips, including wideband modulated-signal and over-the-air measurements.
• Coordinate with industry and academic partners on system integration and demonstration milestones.
• Mentor graduate students and prepare technical reports and journal and conference publications.

• Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering with a dissertation in RF and analog integrated circuit design and fabrication.
• Excellent academic record.
• Extensive tape-out experience; candidates should be prepared to substantiate their contribution to several fabricated chips and the measured silicon results.
• Demonstrated RF and mm-wave IC design capability in CMOS or SiGe BiCMOS, with fluency in Cadence Virtuoso/Spectre and electromagnetic simulation tools.
• Baseband FPGA programming capability in Verilog or VHDL with the Xilinx/AMD Vivado toolchain; this is a firm requirement, not a preference.
• Hands-on laboratory measurement skills, including work with vector network analyzers, signal generators and analyzers, and high-speed sampling instrumentation.
• Strong publication record and clear technical writing and presentation in English.

Experience with nanoscale CMOS or comparable advanced nodes; phased-array and beamforming transceivers; high-speed data converter interfaces; RFSoC-based modem development; OFDM or related waveform processing in hardware; familiarity with 3

GPP  O-RAN specifications.

Initial appointment is for one year, renewable for up to three years subject to performance and continued funding. Salary follows the University of California Postdoctoral Scholar salary scale, commensurate with experience. The position is available immediately and will remain open until filled. Certain tasks on this program are subject to U.S. export control regulations; eligibility to work on export-controlled research may be required.

A reasonable estimate for this position is $71,491-$85,736, based on experience level at time of hire.

UC Irvine is part of the premier public university system in the world. UCI is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), is ranked as a top-10 public university by U.S. News and World Report, and was identified by the New York Times as No. 1 among U.S. universities that do the most for low-income students. UCI is located in Orange County, four miles from the Pacific Ocean and 45 miles south of Los Angeles.

Irvine is one of the safest communities in the U.S. and offers a very pleasant year-round climate, numerous recreational and cultural opportunities, and one of the highest-ranked public-school systems in the nation.

The University of California, Irvine is an…