Research Associate

About Us

King's Telecoms Group has been part of the global ecosystem which designed and deployed telecoms technology, from 2G to 5G, and now 6G. King’s Telecoms Group has become a flagship hub of cutting‑edge research and ground‑breaking innovation, working with more than 200 collaborators. Underpinned by millions of pounds in public and private funding, King’s Telecoms Group has been advancing wireless communications for three decades.

About The Role

5G networks are a key enabler for the economy and society's growing communication needs. The UK 5G network market size is estimated to reach revenues of US$ 2,657.6 million by 2030. The rapid emergence of fully intelligent and automated systems is anticipated to overburden the capacity limits of 5G networks, making it impossible to support the target requirements of spectrum, energy efficiency, latency, and massive connectivity. New technologies that address the looming spectrum shortage in current radio frequency (RF) systems, by synergistically utilizing the RF and optical wireless (OW) spectra together, are needed. Also, new multi‑function devices that share spectrum and hardware components, notably integrating communication, sensing and computing, are essential to ensure efficient spectrum utilisation and reduce hardware costs in 6G networks. Besides connectivity and spectral efficiency, 6G networks must address the leakage of critical and confidential information at an affordable cost, complexity and power consumption. Traditional cryptography methods cannot, however, be applied in resource‑limited networks due to their complexity and because the management of secret keys is challenging in distributed networks. Physical layer security (PLS) is, on the other hand, a sought after approach to overcome these challenges and to enable intrinsically secure networks, by exploiting the properties of the wireless medium. Several studies proved the benefits of PLS, e.g., using artificial noise, cooperative jamming and directional modulation. Current hybrid RF‑OW networks, especially those operating in the high RF frequency spectrum, suffer from limited connectivity, as a strong line‑of‑sight link is essential for ensuring secure and reliable communication. Current technologies and techniques cannot, however, guarantee intrinsically secure and reliable connectivity under critical system configurations, notably in non‑line‑of‑sight or partially obstructed line‑of‑sight propagation channels. This project focuses on overcoming the line‑of‑sight requirement by using curved beams: appropriately designed beams that bypass obstacles partially blocking line‑of‑sight links in hybrid RF‑OW networks, enabling intrinsically secure data communication and sensing capabilities.

This is a full‑time post (35 hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed‑term contract for six months. Research staff at King’s are entitled to at least 10 days per year (pro‑rata) for professional development. This entitlement, from the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, applies to Postdocs, Research Assistants, Research and Teaching Technicians, Teaching Fellows and AEP equivalent up to and including grade 7. Visit the Centre for Research Staff Development for more information.

About You

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential Criteria

• Deep knowledge of wireless communications
• Deep knowledge of reconfigurable intelligent surfaces
• Deep knowledge of stacked intelligent surfaces
• Deep knowledge of integrated sensing and communications
• Deep knowledge of optimization theory
• Deep knowledge of Matlab
• Deep knowledge of CVX

Desirable Criteria

• Excellent communication skills
• Excellent presentation skills

Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

Further Information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community. We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King’s. As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities. We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the person specification section of the job description. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible. To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our 'How we Recruit' pages. Interviews are due to be held during the week commencing 15 December 2025.