Research fellow in Fibre sensing applications and network control

Trinity is Ireland’s leading university and is ranked 75th in the world (QS World University Rankings 2026). Founded in 1592, the University is steeped in history with a reputation for excellence in education, research, and innovation, which has been inspiring generations of thinkers for over 400 years.  

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Novel optical access and metro networks are critical to meeting the ever-increasing capacity demands driven by 6G and beyond. However, in this rapidly changing landscape, flexibility becomes paramount. Especially, the integration of fire sensing into today’s telecommunications network promises to deliver a global and ubiquitous sensing network. Making use of novel network designs pivoting around flexible components and open architectures, fibre sensing technologies can be used to improve network resilience, fault detection, and provide novel services such as multiple types of environmental monitoring. However, to fully harness these capabilities, networks also require intelligent control planes capable of autonomous and dynamic provisioning of fibre sensing technologies across the network.

We are seeking a highly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher to explore intelligent, AI-enabled control planes and data processing for fibre sensing in optical networks. The work will focus on the development of methods for analysing fibre sensing signatures as well as methods to incorporate sensing across telecommunications networks to deliver the performance level required by the multiple sensing applications.

The applicants should have a solid theoretical background on machine learning, optical networks and fibre sensing applications, and willing to engage in testbed-oriented research. The work will be carried out in the new OpenIreland research infrastructure, a large-scale testbed for experimentation in optical, wireless and cloud technologies.

The position will be based in the School of Computer Science and Statistics,Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, and in the ADAPT centre. The researcher will have the opportunity to build their research portfolio within a range of projects.

The position will be under the direction of Prof. Marco Ruffini

Application Procedure 

Applicants should submit a full Curriculum Vitae to include the names and contact details of 2 referees (including email addresses), to:-

Prof. Marco Ruffini

marco.ruffini@tcd.ie

At Trinity, we are committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion. Trinity welcomes applications from all individuals, including those applicants with disabilities, those who may have had non-traditional career paths, those who have taken time out for reasons including family or caring responsibilities. We also welcome international applicants including those whom have been displaced due to war.

Trinity College Dublin is Ireland’s premier University. We are an EU Sustainable Gender Equality Champion and we hold an Athena Swan Silver award, recognising our ongoing work to advance gender equality both within Trinity and in the Higher Education sector. Trinity is committed to supporting work-life balance and to creating a family-friendly working environment.