Ioannis Vardoulakis PhD Prize 2025

Posted on by
Reply

The Bureau of ALERT Geomaterials is pleased to announce the opening of applications for the Ioannis Vardoulakis PhD Prize 2025. Since 2016, this prestigious prize has been awarded in honor of Prof. Ioannis Vardoulakis, recognizing outstanding contributions to research and teaching in the field of Geomechanics.

Eligibility: The prize is open to PhD students who have successfully defended their thesis in 2024 and had at least one official supervisor from an institution belonging to the ALERT Geomaterials association.

Application Deadline: The deadline for applications is 31st March 2025.

Prize Details:

  • The winner will receive a 1,000€ prize.
  • Each of the other finalists will be awarded 500€.
  • The winner will be invited to give a short lecture on their research during the ALERT Geomaterials Workshop.
  • Two Finalists will have the opportunity to give a pitch presentation of their work.

Application Process: Candidates must submit their application via email to the Vice-Director for Academics and cc the Director at eleni.gerolymatou@tu-clausthal.de and director@alertgeomaterials.eu, respectively, following the prescribed format.

The application dossier should include:

  • Curriculum Vitae (in English)
  • Thesis abstract (max. 5 pages, in English)
  • Two most representative papers derived from the thesis (in English)
  • Full thesis text (in the original language) including:
    • Table of Contents (in English)
    • Table of Figures (in English)

Important Notes:

  • All documents must be compiled into a single PDF file following the specified order.
  • Incomplete or incorrectly formatted applications will be automatically excluded.

For full details on the rules and agenda, including the official PDF files, please visit the ALERT website: https://alertgeomaterials.eu/alert-phd-prize/.

We look forward to receiving your applications!

PhD Position on coupled hydro-mechanical (HM) modeling at INERIS / University of Lorraine, France

Posted on by
Reply

Applications are welcomed for a PhD position at INERIS and GeoRessources laboratory, University of Lorraine (Nancy, France).

The induced and/or pre-existing fracturing of rock mass raises major issues of integrity, performance, and safety in many underground and subsurface operations, such as mining, underground storages, and deep geothermal energy. The aim of this thesis is to conduct 3D numerical hydro-mechanical modeling to characterise this induced fracturation in clay formation and its evolution in time under the effect of various loading conditions. He/she will notably collaborate to the CIGEO research project of Andra.

The deadline for any potential applicants to contact the supervisory team is April 1st, 2025

More information in the attachment.

Call for Abstracts: Mini-Symposium on Geomechanics at EMI 2025 IC

Posted on by
Reply

We are excited to invite you to submit an abstract for the mini-symposium “MS-18: Geomechanics and Related Applications from Micro to Macro” at the EMI 2025 International Conference (EMI 2025 IC), which will take place from July 17-19, 2025, at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.

The mini-symposium will cover a wide range of topics, including, but not limited to:

  • Advanced geotechnical micro-test methods, such as Computed Tomography (CT) technology
  • Numerical modeling of geotechnical materials at micro to macro scales
  • Ecological geotechnical engineering and field applications, such as improving slope stability through vegetation
  • Biogeotechnics, including Microbially Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation (MICP) and Enzymatically Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation (EICP)
  • Emerging trends in ecological geotechnics and future technologies

Abstract submissions are now open and will remain open until March 10, 2025. To submit your abstract, please visit the submission portal at https://emi2025ic.civil.tsinghua.edu.cn/dist/#/login. Please make sure to select MS-18 as the MS Code when submitting your abstract.

For further details about the mini-symposium, please refer to the attached PDF. We look forward to welcoming you in Beijing!

9 PhD positions at Ecole des Ponts ParisTech

Posted on by
Reply

Ecole des Ponts ParisTech is looking for 9 PhD candidates within the framework of an EU MSCA COFUND project: https://www.miscea-program.fr/en/home/.

Among these, 5 PhD  positions are open at Navier Laboratory:
– Multiphysics simulation of 3D concrete printing process: from printability to structural resilience
– Design and monitoring of tunnels facing energy and numerical transitions
– Offshore wind turbine monopile foundation: experimental and numerical study of soil-structure interaction
– Experimental Investigation of Caprock Sealing in Geological Formations: Implications for Natural White Hydrogen Accumulations and Green Hydrogen Storage
– Eco-innovative shape memory architected dampers for the seismic protection of infrastructures

Details about the application process can be found on Euraxess:
https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/search?f[0]=keywords%3Amiscea

Call for Abstracts – ALERT Workshop 2025

Posted on by
Reply

We are pleased to announce that the ALERT Workshop 2025 will be held in Aussois, France, from 29 September to 4 October 2025. Abstract submissions are now open for the following three sessions:

Session 1: “It is about time – time-dependent response of geomaterials”
Organizers:

Session 2: “Ice in porous media”
Organizers:

Session 3: “Nature-based geotechnical engineering”

Description:
This workshop explores the application of bio-inspired principles to address key challenges in geotechnical engineering, focusing on the intersection of biology and geomechanics. Key topics include bio-mediated ground improvement through bio-mineralization, the use of root-like structures for soil reinforcement, and animal-inspired burrowing techniques for more efficient tunnelling. The sessions will cover experimental methods to investigate bio-soil interactions, advanced numerical modelling of bio-inspired systems, and how knowledge on natural processes can be leveraged to enhance the stability, resilience, and sustainability of geotechnical systems. The emphasis will be placed on understanding the fundamental mechanisms driving natural processes, and scaling challenges from laboratory to field scales. 

Organizers:

How to Submit Your Abstract:
Please email your abstract directly to the respective session coordinators using the Workshop Abstract Form (DOC). Due to the limited time available for presentations, only a selection of the submitted abstracts will be chosen for oral presentations.

Submission Deadline:
All abstracts must be received by 15 May 2025.

For any inquiries regarding your participation or further information about the sessions, please contact the respective session coordinators directly.

We look forward to your contributions!

Call for abstracts for the session: Clays in Geotechnics – Problems and Applications

Posted on by
Reply

Dear colleagues and friends,

this is a call for abstracts for the session: Clays in Geotechnics – Problems and Applications (https://icc.aipea.org/sessions-list/icc-30 ) that is organised in the field of the 18th International Clay Conference (ICC; https://icc.aipea.org/ ), 13-18 July 2025, Dublin, Ireland.

Clays and clay minerals are incredibly important in geotechnical engineering because of their unique properties which can both benefit and challenge applications such as foundation engineering, tunnelling and environmental barriers. Clay properties are influenced by pore water chemistry and soil texture, resulting in variability that can complicate tasks. On the other hand, this variability also creates exciting opportunities for tailoring materials using salts or polymers. Issues such as the impact of pollution on sediment properties and the stability of tailings dams highlight the need for sustainable mitigation strategies. Contributions on clay characterisation, modification and mitigation in geotechnical and geo-ecological applications are encouraged.

A special issue in Environmental Geotechnics journal for selected contributions is foreseen.

Deadline for abstract submission: 11th April 2025, https://icc.aipea.org/abstracts/

Conveners:
Michael Plötze (Eth Zurich, Switzerland)
Bharat Venkata Tadikonda (Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India)
Rossella Petti and Claudia Vitone (Politecnico di Bari, Italy)

Student for Student Summer School (S4SSS): Soil as a Key Factor in Mountain Hazards near Innsbruck

Posted on by
Reply

Opportunities for (PhD) Students in Geosciences

Applications are now open for the Student for Student Summer School (S4SSS) on “Soil as a Key Factor in Mountain Hazards” taking place at Obergurgl, near Innsbruck.

Details: https://imc2025.info/summerschool/s4sss25/focus-group/soil-as-key-factor-in-mountain-hazards/
Travel Grants: https://imc2025.info/summerschool/travel-grants/
Abstract Submission: https://imc2025.info/summerschool/submission/abstract/

Deadline for abstracts: 20.02.2025

Summer School dates: 07.09.2025 – 12.09.2025
Location: Obergurgl, Austria

Looking froward to the discussions and contributions! 
(Alaq, Maria, Mehdi and Mona)

Mini-Symposium on Computational Geomechanics at GACM Colloquium 2024

Posted on by
Reply

Event Details:


This session will highlight the latest advancements in computational geomechanics, with a focus on multi-physical couplings such as thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes. Key topics include:

  •  Constitutive modeling of complex visco-elasto-plastic material behavior  
  • Fracture propagation and damage evolution in geomaterials, including advanced regularization techniques such as gradient-based and nonlocal approaches (e.g., phase-field methods)  
  • Applications in geothermal energy, CO2 sequestration, oil and gas recovery, and nuclear waste disposal  

For further details, see attached flyer.

Permanent academic position at Navier Laboratory

Posted on by
Reply

Université Gustave Eiffel is opening a permanent academic position in ” poromechanics and numerical modelling” at  Navier Laboratory (Paris, France).

More details more details on the scientific profile sought can be found in the description of the position.

Application file should be submitted here (in French or English).

🗓️Deadline: 14 March 2025.

Contacts:
📬 Prof. Jean-Michel Pereira, Director of Navier Lab., jean-michel.pereira@enpc.fr
📬Prof. Siavash Ghabezloo, Head of the Géotechnics group, siavash.ghabezloo@enpc.fr

2 funded PhD positions at the University of Luxembourg

Posted on by
Reply

The research group Computational Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering- COMPSOIL is currently seeking 2 motivated PhD candidates to join our team and contribute to cutting-edge research on:

1. Experimental and Numerical Assessment of Deep Foundations Under Combined Loading in the context of offshore geostructures.

2. Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical (THM) behavior of geomaterials in the context of climate change and geoenergy resources.


Candidate Requirements:

– Proven skills in laboratory testing and development of experimental setup

– Familiarity with numerical modeling in geotechnics

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. However, the screening of received applications has already begun, and early submission is encouraged. Both EU and non-EU students are encouraged to apply.

For more details, please click here for the PhD position or here for the Postdoctoral position.

For further information, please feel free to contact arash.lavasan@uni.lu.