Institute for Digital Communications

The Institute for Digital Communication (IDC) is part of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Communications of the Faculty of Engineering at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and headed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Robert Schober. IDC is complemented by Prof. Dr. Laura Cottatellucci, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralf Müller, and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Gerstacker.

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Research Directions

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Open Thesis Topics

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We Are Hiring

We are hiring — Join the SyMoCADS team as a doctoral student or postdoctoral researcher!

We are looking for nine dedicated doctoral students and one postdoctoral researcher to join the Research Training Group (RTG) on Synthetic Molecular Communications Across Different Scales: From Theory to Experiments (SyMoCADS) starting December 1, 2026!  

Application deadline: 31.05.2026

Application details: Click here or view this pdf

News

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Rang Liu as a Humboldt Research Postdoctoral Fellow. During her two-year stay, she will work on integrated sensing and communication systems at IDC together with Prof. Dr. Robert Schober. You can find more information about her research and what brought her to IDC at FAU here.

We are pleased to announce that former IDC member Andreas Feder successfully defended his doctoral dissertation on March 6, 2026, thereby earning the degree of Dr.-Ing. In his thesis, Design of Parameter Estimation Schemes for Blind Receivers of Paired Carrier Multiple Access Satellite Signals, Andreas investigated how satellite receivers can separate and interpret superimposed signals without…

We are very proud to announce that Dr.-Ing. habil Maximilian Schäfer has successfully completed his habilitation in the field of electrical engineering in February 2026. The dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Marc Stamminger, congratulated him on receiving his teaching qualification when handing him over his habilitation certificate on March 3, 2026. The…
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IDC’s Lighthouse Projects

SyMoCADS

The Research Training Group (RTG) SyMoCADS is a research training program funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) to train scientists and engineers in the emerging interdisciplinary field of molecular communication.

EmpkinS

EmpkinS is a Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) with a the focus on capturing human motion parameters remotely in a minimally disturbing and non-invasive manner and with very high resolution.

KoRaTo

The Research Training Group (RTG) KoRaTo is a joint project between the Ulm University (UUlm) and the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg with the aim to develop a new UAV- and radar-based geophysical monitoring system to measure for instance earth mass movements, vegetation heights, or the cryosphere.

xG-RIC

xG-RIC is part of the 6G Platform Germany and serves as a technology transfer hub with the goal of advancing key 6G technologies and systematically accelerating their transfer into industry and society. 

IDC’s Fields of Research

Next Generation Wireless Communication

Molecular and Biological Communication Systems

Machine Learning, Signal Processing and Information Theory