Doctoral Researcher in Ground and Flight Testing (eVTOL & Fixed Wing Drones)

11.02.2026, Wissenschaftliches Personal

The TUM Chair of Aircraft Design is looking for a doctoral researcher in the field of Ground and Flight Testing of eVTOL & fixed wing drones/UAVs. The research is targeted to provide high quality test data for the validation of design and simulation models as well as to verify new configurations. Besides research activities you will also contribute to the lectures and organizational tasks of the chair as well as supporting general aircraft design activities in the field of UAVs.

About us

As member of the Department of Aerospace and Geodesy at the Technical University Munich the Chair for Aircraft Design is focusing on the design of manned and unmanned aircraft. The research is dedicated to the areas of "scenario analysis, future trends and technologies", "aircraft design for civil and military operations" and "operational analysis and evaluation". The combination of these research focus areas provides an ideal platform for interdisciplinary research in simulation and experimental validation, including experimental flight testing.

Requirements

Novel UAV/drone configurations and systems (incl. fixed wing eVTOLs) require an extensive experience in all fields of designing, prototyping and testing UAVs. Especially to validate simulations and design tools high quality data from testing (on the ground and in flight) is needed. You should hold a MSc. or Dipl. degree in aerospace or mechanical engineering well above average and you should have experience in designing, building and testing/flying of UAV concepts or model airplanes. Fundamental knowledge of the key disciplines in aerospace engineering and especially in aircraft design is required. Expertise in testing and test equipment as well as (manufacturing and) operation of high-performance model/scale aircraft is required. You should be interested in cooperation with other groups, bring good communication writing skills in English to publish scientific papers. Due to security restrictions only applications from EU citizens will be considered.

Tasks

The chair is involved in multiple research projects focussing on novel UAV solutions for a variety of civil and military applications. It would be your task to join with the team of researchers to come up with novel solutions and enable the successful demonstration of the technologies, systems and aircraft designs in ground and flight testing. Besides research activities you will also contribute to the lectures and organizational tasks of the chair.

We provide

A full-time researcher position featuring a fixed-term contract with a salary in accordance with the German state regulated public service salary scale (TV-L E13) TUM is an equal opportunity employer. TUM aims to increase the proportion of women and therefore particularly welcomes applications by women. Applicants with severe disabilities will be given priority consideration given comparable qualifications.

Application

Please file your complete application before 27. February 2026 via Email or mail to:

Technische Universität München
Lehrstuhl für Luftfahrtsysteme
Boltzmannstr. 15
85748 Garching bei München
+49 89 289 15981
Sekretariat.lls@ed.tum.de

Kontakt: Sekretariat.lls@ed.tum.de