Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
PhD Position in SureROB: Design of a lightweight robotic arm (DC5)
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy, New York, United States
Organisation/Company Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II Department Department of Industrial Engineering Research Field Engineering » Mechanical engineering Engineering » Materials engineering Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Country Italy Application Deadline 15 Jan 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Berlin) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 40 Offer Starting Date 1 Jul 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - MSCA Reference Number DC5 Marie Curie Grant Agreement Number 101226856 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No
Offer Description About the SureROB Project
Development of efficient, safe, green, and reconfigurable manufacturing systems requires seamless integration between software and hardware solutions, requiring cooperation between experts from different fields. The project aims to make advancements in green manufacturing systems through collaborative robots (CoBots), making them viable for SMEs. The field of robotics faces the challenge of a disconnect between experts from computer science that provide generic solutions and the end-users that work and interact with the hardware. By bridging this gap to enable the development of lightweight, efficient, and sustainable CoBots, SureROB will holistically train skilled researchers to contribute to European manufacturing. Through a well-balanced consortium of renowned academic bodies and industrial partners from seven countries, SureROB will develop and benchmark industrially feasible solutions. The focus would be not only to make the manufacturing process sustainable but also address the sustainability of manufacturing CoBots themselves. Green tools and techniques will be developed. An important target would be achieving up to 20% reduction in the weight of the robot’s components (drives and arms), resulting in lower energy consumption without compromising on the system reliability and robustness. Structural and geometric optimisation of the drives and arms will be investigated to improve the dynamic behaviour and efficiency with software-based design solutions. These will be supported with vibration control strategies working in sync with optimised path planning and condition monitoring strategies. Numerical and experimental evaluation of the developed solutions will be conducted for benchmarking them against the reference system. SureROB will address the cost and impact of existing technologies to make them economically feasible and eco-friendly, and will actively disseminate the results, engage with the public, and promote open science.
About the DC5 Project
The quality of the machining process with robots is mainly governed by the accuracy and stiffness of the robots. In addition, a lightweight arm configuration can simplify the operating requirements and condition of a robot.
However, traditional robotic arms still face many challenges in achieving both lightweight and high precision, and innovative configurations deserve strong interest.
Hence, the development of light weight solutions can be essential to increase the efficiency of an industrial process based on collaborative robots and, more in general, to improve the robot’s operation safety.
Nowadays a lightweight design can be achieved with innovative and sustainable manufacturing procedures and with the implementation, in the arm structures, also of some metamaterials or meta-structures, which can enhance the vibration mitigation and isolation behavior of the original material.
In this project a reference robot arm will be selected, and its structural components will be analyzed. The PhD candidate will develop an enhanced design through a dedicated modeling and optimization approach. It will be a multiple-objective optimization based on the need of specific structural rigidity, proper dynamic behavior (natural frequency distribution, dissipative vibration properties of the structure), lower weight and green and sustainable manufacturing process. The results of this optimization will be evaluated on some prototypes.
The project requires the candidate to undertake international mobility. 18 months of the research work will be performed in Naples (Italy) at University of Naples Federico II and 18 months in Västerås (Sweden) in cooperation with ABB.
Please visit our website for more information. Please submit your applications via this link.
Within SureROB there are 9 PhD positions on offer that tackle different challenges in robotics. Visit our PhD Positions website page to look at the other positions!
We look forward to your application! Thank you for your interest!
Excellent track record,
Fluent English (written, verbal),
Analytical skills and outstanding problems solving abilities,
Passion for science and technology and the motivation to undertake transnational mobility, and
Solid background in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics.
Prestigious PhD programme (Marie-Curie) with a competitive salary (see
here
), comprising of
The Living allowance, amounting to € 4010 /month. This amount is adjusted according to the country in which the candidate is recruited
Mobility allowance, amounting to € 710 /month, and
Family allowance(if applicable, depending on family situation), which amounts to € 660 per month. Please note that the salary contributions described above are according to the budget categories for MSCA doctoral networks. Social security, mandatory deductions, and taxes have not been considered. The final salary received by the candidate will depend on the country of recruitment.
Work with renowned research scientists and industrial experts,
Exposure to multiple sectors (research labs, industry, start-ups/SMEs),
Receive intensive training on a broad set of career-enabling skills,
Benefit from a 3-years immersion in an industry-oriented research environment with excellent career opportunities in both public and private sectors.
Eligibility criteria
Recruited researchers must be doctoral candidates, i.e. not already in possession of a doctoral degree at the date of the recruitment.
Recruited researchers can be of any nationality and must comply with the following mobility rule: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date. For this particular position,
the candidate must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Italy for more than 12 months in the 36 months preceding 01.07.2026.
The Recruited researchers must hold a relevant master’s degree or must obtain a relevant master’s degree before the start of the contract.
Refer Section 1.3.2. of the MSCA Work Programme (here ) for more details.
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Offer Description About the SureROB Project
Development of efficient, safe, green, and reconfigurable manufacturing systems requires seamless integration between software and hardware solutions, requiring cooperation between experts from different fields. The project aims to make advancements in green manufacturing systems through collaborative robots (CoBots), making them viable for SMEs. The field of robotics faces the challenge of a disconnect between experts from computer science that provide generic solutions and the end-users that work and interact with the hardware. By bridging this gap to enable the development of lightweight, efficient, and sustainable CoBots, SureROB will holistically train skilled researchers to contribute to European manufacturing. Through a well-balanced consortium of renowned academic bodies and industrial partners from seven countries, SureROB will develop and benchmark industrially feasible solutions. The focus would be not only to make the manufacturing process sustainable but also address the sustainability of manufacturing CoBots themselves. Green tools and techniques will be developed. An important target would be achieving up to 20% reduction in the weight of the robot’s components (drives and arms), resulting in lower energy consumption without compromising on the system reliability and robustness. Structural and geometric optimisation of the drives and arms will be investigated to improve the dynamic behaviour and efficiency with software-based design solutions. These will be supported with vibration control strategies working in sync with optimised path planning and condition monitoring strategies. Numerical and experimental evaluation of the developed solutions will be conducted for benchmarking them against the reference system. SureROB will address the cost and impact of existing technologies to make them economically feasible and eco-friendly, and will actively disseminate the results, engage with the public, and promote open science.
About the DC5 Project
The quality of the machining process with robots is mainly governed by the accuracy and stiffness of the robots. In addition, a lightweight arm configuration can simplify the operating requirements and condition of a robot.
However, traditional robotic arms still face many challenges in achieving both lightweight and high precision, and innovative configurations deserve strong interest.
Hence, the development of light weight solutions can be essential to increase the efficiency of an industrial process based on collaborative robots and, more in general, to improve the robot’s operation safety.
Nowadays a lightweight design can be achieved with innovative and sustainable manufacturing procedures and with the implementation, in the arm structures, also of some metamaterials or meta-structures, which can enhance the vibration mitigation and isolation behavior of the original material.
In this project a reference robot arm will be selected, and its structural components will be analyzed. The PhD candidate will develop an enhanced design through a dedicated modeling and optimization approach. It will be a multiple-objective optimization based on the need of specific structural rigidity, proper dynamic behavior (natural frequency distribution, dissipative vibration properties of the structure), lower weight and green and sustainable manufacturing process. The results of this optimization will be evaluated on some prototypes.
The project requires the candidate to undertake international mobility. 18 months of the research work will be performed in Naples (Italy) at University of Naples Federico II and 18 months in Västerås (Sweden) in cooperation with ABB.
Please visit our website for more information. Please submit your applications via this link.
Within SureROB there are 9 PhD positions on offer that tackle different challenges in robotics. Visit our PhD Positions website page to look at the other positions!
We look forward to your application! Thank you for your interest!
Excellent track record,
Fluent English (written, verbal),
Analytical skills and outstanding problems solving abilities,
Passion for science and technology and the motivation to undertake transnational mobility, and
Solid background in Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics.
Prestigious PhD programme (Marie-Curie) with a competitive salary (see
here
), comprising of
The Living allowance, amounting to € 4010 /month. This amount is adjusted according to the country in which the candidate is recruited
Mobility allowance, amounting to € 710 /month, and
Family allowance(if applicable, depending on family situation), which amounts to € 660 per month. Please note that the salary contributions described above are according to the budget categories for MSCA doctoral networks. Social security, mandatory deductions, and taxes have not been considered. The final salary received by the candidate will depend on the country of recruitment.
Work with renowned research scientists and industrial experts,
Exposure to multiple sectors (research labs, industry, start-ups/SMEs),
Receive intensive training on a broad set of career-enabling skills,
Benefit from a 3-years immersion in an industry-oriented research environment with excellent career opportunities in both public and private sectors.
Eligibility criteria
Recruited researchers must be doctoral candidates, i.e. not already in possession of a doctoral degree at the date of the recruitment.
Recruited researchers can be of any nationality and must comply with the following mobility rule: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the recruiting beneficiary for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date. For this particular position,
the candidate must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Italy for more than 12 months in the 36 months preceding 01.07.2026.
The Recruited researchers must hold a relevant master’s degree or must obtain a relevant master’s degree before the start of the contract.
Refer Section 1.3.2. of the MSCA Work Programme (here ) for more details.
#J-18808-Ljbffr