PhD student fellowship position

Organisation/Company Center for Theoretical Physics PAS Research Field Physics » Other Physics » Quantum mechanics Physics » Thermodynamics Physics » Computational physics Physics » Mathematical physics Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Country Poland Final date to receive applications 6 Jan 2026 - 12:00 (Europe/Warsaw) Type of Contract Other Type of Contract Extra Information PhD scholarship Job Status Other Job Status Extra Information PhD scholarship Hours Per Week 20 Offer Starting Date 1 Mar 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by a EU programme Reference Number PLB/33/2025 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

The Director of the Center for Theoretical Physics PAS announces a competition for one Scholar-PhD Student position at the CTP PAS, within the research project SONATA “Thermodynamics of Information Processing:
From Theory to Applications”, financed by the National Science Center (GA no. UMO-2023/51/D/ST2/02309). The project’s leader is dr Patryk Lipka-Bartosik.

The Center for Theoretical Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (CTP PAS) is a research institute focused on the study of theoretical physics. The CTP is located in Warsaw, Poland, and was founded in 1980.

The CTP PAS conducts research in various fields of physics, including quantum information, space and gravity research, semiconductors, and atomic gases. The Institute’s strategy is to employ the strongest scientists, giving them the freedom to conduct their research. This has resulted in the CTP’s high standing in Poland, world-class publications (in Nature and Science), a large number of grants (approximately 30 projects), and participation in international consortia.

In terms of citations per researcher, CTP PASranks among the leading institutions in Polish physics.

The CTP PAS also hosts a number of scientific events, including seminars, workshops, and conferences, which are open to the public. The Institute also creates educational content accessible on its official You Tube channel.

This project links foundational theory to practical applications in information thermodynamics — an interdisciplinary field spanning information theory, stochastic thermodynamics, and quantum physics — and will explore several research directions:

• Thermodynamic computing:
  Developing physics-inspired models of computation that aim to lower energy consumption for machine-learning and information processing tasks (see, e.g.,
  arXiv: ).
• Quantum phenomena in information processing:
  Investigating how genuine quantum effects can be harnessed to process information with improved energetic efficiency (see, e.g.,
  arXiv:2408:06418 ).
• Optimization of thermodynamic protocols :
  Design thermal machines that exploit collective quantum phenomena to reach higher performance or lower dissipation (see, e.g., arXiv: ).

The project is primarily theoretical, but establishing connections to experiments will be prioritized, with the goal of translating the project’s findings into real applications. The PhD student will work on at least one of these topics and will be strongly supported to propose and develop independent research directions. Emphasis will be put on developing international collaborations with both theoretical and experimental research groups.

The scope of work of the successful Candidates within the project will be

• Performing analytical calculations,
• Designing and running numerical simulations,
• Writing and publishing research papers,
• Presenting results at conferences,
• Preparing literature reviews.

We expect the Candidates to have:

• Strong motivation,
• Ability and enthusiasm to work in an interdisciplinary team,
• Good written and oral communication skills in English,
• Programming skills (e.g., Python, Julia, MATLAB or similar),
• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Physics, Computer Science or a related discipline.

The application must include:

• The scientific CV, including the progress in the university studies and transcript of records with grades, scientific achievements (publications, participation in research…