Your responsibilities

The project “Comprehensive Observations of Episodic Basal, Englacial and Lateral Influences on Ice Stream Dynamics” (COEBELI) is a collaborative effort of several research institutions to understand the mechanisms leading to rapid ice flow of outlet glaciers of the Greenland ice sheet. The project uses a combination of field observations (dynamics, seismicity), remote-sensing products, and state-of-the-art numerical models to investigate non-continuous processes leading to fast ice flow.
Within the project, the Material Point Method (MPM) will be used to model detailed high-rate processes such as glacier calving and tsunami wave generation, episodic crevassing in the ice stream margins, and basal fracturing processes leading to seismic emissions.
The successful candidate will interpret field data from Jakobshavn Isbrae (Greenland) with model results to obtain relevant model parameters, and to investigate the physical processes. A close collaboration with PhD students is envisioned. The post-doc will be supervised by Dr. Martin Lüthi (UZH) and Dr. Johan Gaume (EPFL).

Your profile

Candidates should hold a PhD in (computational) mechanics or in (computational) geosciences. Back-ground/experience in solid and/or fluid mechanics and numerical modeling is mandatory. Additional qualifications such as experience with the Material Point Method or with glacier calving processes are an advantage. The candidate should have very good English skills and is expected to be a team player with excellent communication capabilities as she/he will collaborate with students and PhDs involved in the project.

What we offer

UZH and EPFL foster equal opportunities and are family friendly employers who value diversity and strive to increase the number of women scientists.

Start of employment

January 1st or upon agreement.

Please submit your application before 17 December 2021 including a letter of application briefly indicating your research plans as well as names and contact details of two possible referees, your curriculum vitae, a copy of your PhD diploma and a writing sample (your PhD thesis or relevant publications) in pdf-form.

Application link

https://jobs.uzh.ch/offene-stellen/postdoctoral-position-in-computational-mechanics-arctic-glaciology/3d12ee42-9ce6-49b3-bb3d-280e00998a30

About Zhejiang University

Located in the historical and picturesque city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang University is a prestigious institution of higher education with a long history. Qiushi Academy, the predecessor of Zhejiang University, was founded in 1897 and was one of the earliest modern academies of higher learning established in China.

Zhejiang University focuses on assiduous study and research, and science and technological innovation. It has launched a number of international high-end academic platforms and gathered masters, scholars and high-level research teams in various disciplines. In recent years, Zhejiang University maintains a leading position in China in output indicators including publications, patents and etc., and has made abundant important achievements in science, technology, humanities and social sciences. Zhejiang University always takes initiative in catering for national and regional needs, and exerts itself to become an influential high-level source of innovation and a pool of talents. 

College of Civil Engineering and Architecture

The College of Civil Engineering and Architecture specialises in research fields and specialisations for the following areas: Offshore Structural Engineering, Structural Reliability and Seismic Resistance, Concrete Composite Structure, Concrete Micromechanics, Structural Wind and Seismic Engineering, Spatial Structure, Smart Structure, Structure Control, Underground Engineering, Geotechnical Calculation and Analysis, Geotechnical Centrifuge, Ocean Geotechnical Engineering, Technology of Drinking Water Safety Protection, Water Pollution Control and Governance, Engineering Management, Rail Traffic, Road & Railway, Traffic Information and Control, Disaster Prevention Engineering ,Engineering Geological Disaster Prevention, Coastal & Offshore Geotechnics, Energy Efficient Building or Architectural Physics, Architecture Design, Urban Designing, Architecture Optics, Urban Planning and Design, Urban Traffic Planning and Design, Information Technology of Urban Planning, Hydraulic Structure Engineering, Hydraulics and River Dynamics, Remote Sensing and Information Technology, Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, Water Resources Management and Utilization, Harbor, Coast and Offshore Engineering, Ocean Engineering, Physical Oceanography (http://www.ccea.zju.edu.cn/cceaenglish/).

Qualifications

Applicants must have a Ph.D. degree in Engineering, Science or other relevant discipline and have the ability to build an independent, externally funded research program at the forefront of their field.

Research topics

These two postdoctoral positions mainly focus on the geotechnical problems in offshore geotechnics and CO2 geological sequestrations, particularly in the areas relating to centrifuge physical modelling and multiple phase coupling, characterization and modelling of marine sediments (including gas hydrate bearing sediments), offshore foundations, pipeline geotechnics and offshore geo-hazards. Experience with simulation software such as TOUGH2, Abaqus and MFiX will be a plus.

Closing date for applications
Open until Filled

Salary and contract

350 000 ~ 400 000 CNY / year, depending on the performance and contribution to the department. The position is expected to get started as early as possible. Contract duration: 2~3 years (extensions are possible if additional funding will be acquired).

Contacts

Please submit a C.V. including two academic references letters to Dr Yi Hong: yi_hong@zju.edu.cn

TU Delft is seeking a motivated postdoc candidate to work on a collaborative research programme related to land subsidence. The overall aim of this programme is to develop an integrative approach to achieve feasible, legitimate and sustainable solutions for managing the negative societal effects of land subsidence. The programme connects fundamental research on subsidence processes to socio-economic impacts of subsidence and to governance and legal framework design. The postdoc will identify potential measures in areas prone to subsidence focuses on the technical implementation of these measures and determines their impact on the environment and society. The post doc researches the interaction of different measures in the urban area and/or on the impact of measures beneficial for the rural area.

If you are interested please see details in the TUD vacancy page: 

https://www.tudelft.nl/over-tu-delft/werken-bij-tu-delft/vacatures/details?jobId=4322&jobTitle=Postdoc%20Living%20on%20Soft%20Soils%3A%20Subsidence%20%26%20Society%3A%20Identifying%20Measures%20for%20Dealing%20with%20Land%20Subsidence

Deadline will be extended to Dec 1, 2021.

Department of Engineering, Durham University

About the Project

Start date and duration: 1st January, 2022 for 3.5 years

Durham University is seeking applications from suitably qualified individuals interested in pursuing a PhD programme of study who can demonstrate evidence of academic excellence at undergraduate and/or Masters level, as well as evidence of sufficient research skills to undertake the project.

The research involves the experimental and constitutive study of the hydro-mechanical behaviour (HM) of compacted soils when subjected to the environmental actions of wetting and drying as a consequence of their exposure to the environment.

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech is seeking to fill a tenure-track position in Geotechnical Engineering. The position is open at the Assistant Professor level. We have a very dynamic geotechnical program that has enjoyed continuous strong support from the Department and College, and we are excited about this opportunity to add a new member to our program.  

The position announcement can be seen on this pdf file. Additional information can be found at : https://cee.vt.edu/content/cee_vt_edu/en/Apply.html

Note that the review for this position will start on November 15, 2021.  Any questions can be directed to Prof. Adrian Rodriguez-Marek (adrianrm@vt.edu).

Project Title

THCM characterisation of engineered bentonite barriers in the very near field behaviour in deep geological repositories of high-level radioactive waste

Project description

The retention properties, the low permeability and the swelling capacity of compacted bentonites have led to an interest in their use in various fields of technology. This is particularly true in the design of deep geological repositories for spent nuclear fuel and other high-level nuclear waste. The objective of the project is to develop a coupled THCM formulation, with non-simplistic geochemistry and consideration of thermal effects at high temperatures that includes the thermodynamics of bentonite hydration. The mathematical formulation will be implemented in a numerical tool to simulate the behaviour of bentonite barriers at repository scale. This will be especially useful for the study of the repository in the short term, when, in unsaturated conditions, temperatures in the engineering barriers are expected to be the highest. As a result, the characterisation of critical phenomena for the safety of the repository (maximum temperatures, corrosion, dissolution) will be improved, highlighting the scope and limitations of the formulations used to date.

As a starting point, a base model in Comsol Multiphysics integrating coupled THM and THC developments will be used.

Conditions

A 4 year FPI grant by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation is available to support the candidate. The collaboration will start as soon as the administrative procedure is solved, expected to be in the first quarter of 2022. The terms and conditions for submitting applications can be found at :
Subprograma Estatal de Formación | Programa Estatal para Desarrollar, Atraer y Retener Talento | Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica, Técnica y de Innovación 2021-2023 | Convocatorias – Agencia Estatal de Investigación (es) (aei.gob.es)

More information on this website.

The deadline is 11 November 2021. The project code is PID2020-118291RB-I00.

The University of Nantes (GeM Laboratory), France, is looking for a highly motivated student to work on the topic of “Permeability evolution of granular soils in an internal erosion context“. The funding to pursue this work in the form of a PhD thesis has already been secured thanks to an ANR project.

More information on this pdf file.

Energy geostructures are geotechnical structures also used to exchange heat with the ground for heating and cooling of adjacent buildings, using a heat pump. The first application was that of energy piles, nowadays largely used in several countries. More recently, the technology has also been developed for infrastructures like metro stations and tunnels, underground parking and cut-and-cover tunnel, slabs. The significant advancements in the research on this topic are such that we are now ready for testing and implementation in our cities.

This project is a unique opportunity to monitor and investigate the behaviour of a real scale energy infrastructure. The work is based on the existing case study of a metro station, already constructed and fully equipped with ground heat exchangers in the diaphragm walls and slabs.

In the framework of this project, the structures, the air and the surrounding soil of the studied metro station will be instrumented with sensors and monitored during operational in real environmental conditions.

The role of the post-doc will be to develop a coupled thermo-hydraulic model of the metro station accounting for the real complex hydrogeological context, predict the response of the station in terms of heat exchange potential and temperature field under different scenarios, analyse the monitoring data and compare with the numerical results. The most affecting parameters will be also identified. Possibly, the behaviour of the geostructures from the geotechnical and mechanical point of view will also be investigated.

We are looking for a candidate with a good knowledge on soil and concrete thermal behaviour, hydrogeology, thermo-hydraulic couplings in porous media, numerical modelling with FEM, soil mechanics, thermo-mechanical couplings. Experience with the software COMSOL Multi-physics will be positively evaluated.

More information in this pdf file.

If you are interested, please send us an e-mail with your CV at the following address: alice.di-donna@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr

Project description

This project goal is to develop and test a realistic modelling platform to represent the dynamic interaction during installation of monopiles in soils. Coupled hydro-mechanical behaviour will be considered for the soil, allowing for drained, undrained or partly drained installation. Representation of the monopile will aim to reproduce the dynamic driving signals recorded at installation. Being able to correctly reproduce installation will open new fundamental perspectives into monopile design for both lateral and axial loading. Model development will be based on the Geotechnical Particle Finite Element method (GPFEM) that has proven its ability to tackle quasi-static and dynamic coupled problems involving large deformations.

Conditions

A 4 year FPI grant by the Spanish Ministry of Science is available to support the candidate. The expected starting date is around June 2022, by which time the candidate should have a MSc degree on Civil Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering or a related field. Interested candidates should send a CV to Prof. Marcos Arroyo (marcos.arroyo@upc.edu) or Mr Jon Rodríguez at fellowships@cimne.upc.edu before the 5^th of November 2021.

More information on this flyer. The application process can be found here as well as the necessary word file.