Research Mobility Highlight: PhD Research Stay at KU Leuven

It is our pleasure to share highlights from the research stay of our PhD student Mahdi Babaei at KU Leuven’s Department of Materials Engineering (MTM), Belgium, made possible through the Erasmus+ research mobility grant.

During his stay, Mahdi focused on the synthesis of high-entropy ceramic oxides for thermal barrier coatings, with particular emphasis on Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS). Gaining hands-on experience with SPS—especially its use for the controlled densification of ceramic materials—was essential for advancing his project and will strongly support his ongoing investigation of the thermophysical properties of high-entropy oxides.

At KU Leuven, Mahdi was supervised by Prof. Jozef Vleugels, Professor in the Department of Materials Engineering and Head of the Surface and Interface Engineered Materials (SIEM) group. He also benefited from the guidance and support of Shuigen Huang, research expert, and Zahid Anwer, research associate in the same department and research group. Their expertise and willingness to share knowledge were invaluable throughout his stay.

Reflecting on the experience, Mahdi notes:

“This mobility experience greatly contributed to achieving my research goals, opening new directions for collaboration, and deepening my understanding of advanced ceramic processing. Outside of the lab, I found Leuven to be a vibrant, accessible, and welcoming city. The warm and supportive environment at KU Leuven and the MTM department, combined with excellent research facilities, made my stay both productive and memorable. I am truly grateful for this opportunity and excited to build on the experience in my future work.”