Senior Research Fellow (IC Design and EDA)

About the role

The School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Nanyang Technological University is looking for a Senior Research Fellow to provide technical leadership in open-source processor and accelerator architectures. The role advances research in integrated circuit (IC) design and electronic design automation (EDA), focusing on RISC-V based processors, AI accelerators and open-source hardware toolchains. It involves high-impact research, new hardware architectures and design methodologies, and sharing results through publications, collaborations and open-source contributions.

Key responsibilities

• Conduct independent and collaborative research on open-source processor architectures and hardware accelerators, including RISC-V designs.
• Define research directions and help plan IC design and EDA research initiatives.
• Design, implement and evaluate digital ICs using Verilog/SystemVerilog and related hardware description languages.
• Develop and optimise EDA workflows for processor and accelerator design, verification and physical implementation with open-source tools.
• Explore architecture-algorithm co-design for machine learning and AI acceleration.
• Perform performance, power and area (PPA) analysis of processor and accelerator designs.
• Publish in top-tier conferences and journals and contribute to open-source hardware and EDA communities.
• Supervise and mentor PhD students and junior Research Fellows.
• Collaborate with academic, industry and international partners and contribute to grant proposals, project management and reporting.

Required profile

• Completed PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science or a closely related discipline.
• At least 5 years of research experience in IC design, processor architecture or related fields.
• Strong publication record in reputable international journals and conferences.
• Demonstrated ability to lead research projects, supervise researchers and mentor junior staff.
• Self-driven, adaptable and able to work independently and in a fast-paced research environment.

Required skills

• Strong research expertise in RISC-V architecture, processor microarchitecture and AI accelerators.
• Experience with ASIC design methodologies and open-source IC design and EDA tools.
• Proven experience in digital hardware design using Verilog/SystemVerilog or equivalent HDLs.
• In-depth knowledge of machine learning algorithms and hardware acceleration techniques.