Doctoral Candidate (m/f/d) on the topic “Experimental and numerical study of Liquid Sheet Jets for active flow control”

Institute of Fluid Mechanics

With around 15,000 students and 3,800 employees, the Technische Universität Braunschweig is the largest Institute of Technology in northern Germany. We are known for our strategic and performance-oriented thinking and acting, top-level research, highly committed lecturers and a successful transfer of knowledge and technologies into industry and society. We are dedicated to creating a family-friendly environment and advocate for equal opportunities.

Our core research areas are Mobility, Engineering for Health, Metrology, and the City of the Future. A strong focus is placed on engineering and the natural sciences, with a close link of our core disciplines to the economics, social and educational sciences as well as the humanities.

Our campus is located in the middle of one of Europe’s research hotspots, where we have established a successful working relationship—both with the more than 20 research facilities in our neighbourhood and our international partner universities.

Starting March 1st, 2027, the Institute of Fluid Mechanics is looking for a

Doctoral Candidate (m/f/d) on the topic “Experimental and numerical study of Liquid Sheet Jets for active flow control”
(full-time– fixed-term)

The position is to be filled on a fixed-term basis for a period of 36 months. The successful applicant will be given the opportunity to pursue a doctorate.

The Institute of Fluid Mechanics at Technische Universität Braunschweig is seeking a highly motivated doctoral researcher to investigate the fundamental physical mechanisms governing liquid sheet jets in the context of the DFG-funded research project on Superior Flow Control through Liquid-Sheet Jets.

Future hydrogen fuel-cell aircraft will produce large amounts of water as a by-product. Part of this water could replace the pressurised air used in active flow control systems, for instance for gust and manoeuvre load alleviation, enabling lighter wings and lower emissions. Liquid-sheet jets, i.e. thin, wide water jets injected into an air crossflow, promise high control authority at far lower jet velocities and power requirements than air jets. Yet, unlike round liquid jets in crossflow, their instabilities, breakup regimes and flow control performance remain largely unexplored. The project will study this phenomenon through laboratory experiments, wind-tunnel tests in the Braunschweig Icing Wind Tunnel (BIWT) with advanced optical diagnostics, and multiphase RANS and DNS simulations.

Make a Difference:

• Set up laboratory experiments to generate uniform liquid-sheet jets and develop opticalmeasurement methods (e.g. laser-induced fluorescence and laser scanning, particle tracking velocimetry, high-speed and event-based imaging) to characterise jet topology, breakup and the surrounding flow field.
• Plan, prepare and carry out wind-tunnel campaigns in the BIWT multiphase wind tunnel on a flatplate model with adjustable streamwise pressure gradient.
• Set up and validate multiphase RANS simulations (volume-of-fluid, adaptive mesh refinement) in ANSYS Fluent and high-fidelity DNS in the open-source Basilisk software.
• Perform systematic experimental and numerical parameter studies on the sensitivity of liquid-sheet jets to key dimensionless numbers (e.g. Weber and Reynolds numbers, momentum flux ratio, aspect ratio, normalized pressure gradient).
• Classify jet breakup regimes and derive regime and flow control performance maps (e.g. jet penetration, separation length) and their correlations with dimensionless numbers.
• Publish scientific findings in leading journals and present results at international conferences.
• Participate in teaching and supervision activities within the institute.

Your Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Applied Mathematics or a related field
• Strong interest in fluid mechanics and multiphase flows
• Experience with laboratory experiments and data analysis
• Programming skills in Python, MATLAB or similar environments
• Knowledge of optical measurement techniques (PIV, particle tracking, high-speed imaging, image processing) is advantageous
• Experience with CFD (e.g. ANSYS Fluent, Basilisk), ideally including multiphase flow simulations, is advantageous
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to work independently
• Good written and spoken English.

Our Benefits:

• Opportunity to work in unique experimental facilities including advanced multiphase-flow and environmental testing infrastructures
• Access to state-of-the-art optical diagnostics and measurement systems
• Integration into an internationally recognized research group in experimental and computational fluid mechanics
• Pay in accordance with the collective agreement TV-L (a special payment at the end of the year as well as a supplementary benefit in the form of a company pension, comparable to a company pension in the private sector) including 30 days‘ vacation per year
• A workplace that is basically suitable for part-time work, although the position is to be filled full-time, as well as flexible working and part-time options and a family-friendly university culture, awarded the “Family-friendly university” audit since 2007
• A wide range of continuing education and company health care programmes as well as a vibrant campus life in an international atmosphere.

What’s more to know:
We welcome applicants of all nationalities. At the same time, we encourage people with severe disabilities to apply. Applications from severely disabled persons will be given preference if they are equally qualified. Please attach a form of evidence of your handicap to your application. We are also working on the fulfilment of the Central Equality Plan based on the Lower Saxony Equal Rights Act (Niedersächsisches Gleichberechtigungsgesetz—NGG) and strive to reduce under-representation in all areas and positions as defined by the NGG. Therefore, applications from women are particularly welcome in this case.

The personal data will be stored for the purpose of processing the application. By submitting your application, you agree that your data may be stored and processed electronically for application purposes in compliance with the provisions of data protection law. Further information on data protection can be found in our data protection regulations at https://www.tu-braunschweig.de/datenschutzerklaerungbewerbungen.

Application costs cannot be reimbursed.

Questions and Answers:
For more information, please call or write Dr.-Ing. André Bauknecht (+49 (0) 531 391-94278, a.bauknecht@tu-bs.de) or Dr. Mariachiara Gallia (+49 (0) 531 391-94231, mariachiara.gallia@tu-bs.de).

Closing date: December 15th, 2026

Are you interested? Please send your application (CV, transcripts, motivation letter, and a copy of your Master’s thesis or similar scientific document authored by you) preferably as a single PDF document via email to a.bauknecht@tu-bs.de

or via mail to

Technische Universität Braunschweig
Institut für Strömungsmechanik
Hermann-Blenk-Straße 37
38108 Braunschweig

vom: 30.10.2026
gültig bis: 15.12.2026