PhD Position Compliant Robotics with Embedded Actuation

Join us in designing the next generation of soft robots—adaptive, precise, and high-performance—through advanced compliant mechanisms and smart material integration.

Job description

Soft robotics represents a transformative approach to machine design, emphasizing adaptability to unstructured environments and safe interaction with humans. These systems are increasingly applied in diverse domains: in agriculture, they can delicately handle crops and respond to changing conditions; in human-assistive technologies, they support rehabilitation and mobility through gentle, responsive interfaces; in minimally invasive surgery, they enable precise, low-impact interventions; and in exploration of hazardous or unknown environments, such as disaster sites or extraterrestrial terrains, their flexibility and resilience offer unique advantages.

Despite rapid advances in the field, most soft robots rely on inherently soft materials, which often limit their precision, speed, and load-bearing capacity—all critical for real-world deployment. Addressing these limitations requires a new class of structures that combine softness with mechanical performance.

Compliant mechanisms, particularly spatial compliant shell mechanisms, offer a promising solution. These structures can achieve large, controlled deformations while maintaining stiffness in selected directions, enabling both flexibility and strength. Their geometry-driven behavior allows for compact, monolithic designs with fewer moving parts and higher reliability.

In this PhD project, you will explore novel working principles for soft robotic systems based on compliant shell mechanisms. You will design and fabricate robotic structures that integrate embedded actuation and stimuli-responsive materials, enabling systems that are not only mechanically efficient but also capable of autonomous adaptation. The goal is to demonstrate soft robots with enhanced functionality—combining the compliance and safety of soft systems with the precision and performance required for impactful applications.

The PhD candidate will be encouraged to actively shape the direction of the research based on the candidate's own interests, insights, and evolving expertise. There is ample room for creativity and exploration, and the project can be tailored to align with the candidate’s vision within the broader scope of soft robotics, compliant mechanisms, and smart materials.

Job requirements

• A master’s degree in mechanical engineering or a related field.
• A strong background in one or more of the following: soft-robotics, compliant mechanisms, mechanical metamaterials, smart materials or related topics.
• Capability in computer drawing, modelling and simulating.
• Proficient in English reading and writing, with good communication skills.
• The ability to work independently and collaborate with an interdisciplinary group.
• Highly motivated and creative.
• Experience in presenting and publishing scientific work is optional.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Mechanical Engineering

From chip to ship. From machine to human being. From idea to solution. Driven by a deep-rooted desire to understand our environment and discover its underlying mechanisms, research and education at the ME faculty focusses on fundamental understanding, design, production including application and product improvement, materials, processes and (mechanical) systems.

ME is a dynamic and innovative faculty with high-tech lab facilities and international reach. It’s a large faculty but also versatile, so we can often make unique connections by combining different disciplines. This is reflected in ME’s outstanding, state-of-the-art education, which trains students to become responsible and socially engaged engineers and scientists. We translate our knowledge and insights into solutions to societal issues, contributing to a sustainable society and to the development of prosperity and well-being. That is what unites us in pioneering research, inspiring education and (inter)national cooperation.

Conditions of employment

Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1.5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2.5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from Promovendus gross per month, from the first year to the fourth year based on a fulltime contract (38 hours), plus 8% holiday allowance and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.

As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

Additional information

For more information about this vacancy, please contact Dr.ir. Giuseppe Radaelli (mail: g.radaelli@tudelft.nl)