Nextstep Doctoral Programme: a unique opportunity for PhD candidates

With more than 18 PhD positions available for autumn 2025, the Nextstep Doctoral Programme offers a diverse range of research opportunities. In particular, the programme aims to leverage the unique capabilities of research infrastructures (RIs) to address global challenges across four critical areas: health, digital, industry & space, climate, energy & mobility, food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment.

The projects focus on cutting-edge research with a strong emphasis on sustainable development and industrial competitiveness, granting candidates access to some of the world’s most advanced analytical techniques.

As a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) co-funded doctoral programme under Horizon Europe, the programme encourages international collaboration by requiring candidates to relocate to the host institute’s country. The programme is co-hosted by The ESRF, the Institut Laue Langevin and the eDREAM network (Forschungszentrum Jülich, Area Science Park, NTNU).

The Nextstep Doctoral Programme is not only about academic research; it also bridges the gap between research infrastructures and industry.

Facilitating application process

In order to facilitate the application process for potential candidates, the Nexstep team will be available in two webinars next week, where they will present the programme, introduce the participating institutes and the recruitment process and will finish with a Q&A session.

The ESRF has currently seven offers open:

• PhD thesis student (f/m) at ESRF studying Mineral-Protein Superlattices in Silica Sponges
• PhD thesis Student (f/m) at ESRF studying X-ray nano-exploration of solid-state battery microstructures under operando conditions
• PhD student at ESRF studying safety of high energy density batteries following real-world cycling
• PhD thesis student (f/m) at ESRF studying dynamics of hydrodynamic instabilities for inertial fusion energy
• PhD thesis student (f/m) at ESRF studying Laser additive manufacturing of new generation aluminium alloys using advanced synchrotron techniques
• PhD thesis student (f/m) at ESRF studying intermetallic magnets by X-ray magnetic spectroscopy
• PhD thesis student (f/m) at ESRF studying f-elements for quantum technologies

For more details and to stay informed about the application process, visit the Nextstep Doctoral Programme’s website.

Text by Sabrina Balghouthi