PhD Opportunity: Hidden Risks of Saline Intrusion

Fully funded IAPETUS2 PhD studentship with Ekbal Hussain and Audrey Ougier-Simonin at the British Geological Survey (BGS), and Elma (Elli-Maria) Charalampidou at Heriot-Watt University.

This interdisciplinary project (project IAP-25-125) explores how climate-driven saline intrusion affects the strength and stability of coastal carbonate rocks—combining:
– Experimental geomechanics & geochemistry
– Neutron/X-ray tomography
– Earth Observation (EO) data
– Risk mapping & science-to-policy translation

Key Dates:
Applications open: 7 November 2025
Deadline: 5 January 2026 at 12:00 GMT
International applicants: Contact supervisors by 8 December 2025

Full details & how to apply: iapetus.ac.uk/how-to-apply
Informal enquiries: audreyo@bgs.ac.uk, ekhuss@bgs.ac.uk and E.Charalampidou@hw.ac.uk

For further information, see the attached [PDF].

Within the ERC Advanced Grant and FWF projects, we are pleased to announce three 4-year PhD positions on granular mechanics and computational geomechanics at the Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, BOKU University, Vienna, Austria.

PhD position 1# is supported by an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council (ERC). The ideal candidate will focus on advanced laboratory experiments and centrifuge model tests on granular flows.

PhD position 2# is supported by an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council (ERC). The ideal candidate will focus on constitutive modelling and numerical simulations in granular mechanics.

PhD position 3# is supported by an Einzelprojekte of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF). The ideal candidate will focus on multiscale modelling of scaly clay failure process in large deformation.

We offer a four-year (48-month) PhD contract with excellent research facilities and a competitive gross salary of 2,786.00 EUR per month (paid 14 times per year),

For further information, see the attached [PDF].

We are pleased to announce a PhD opportunity on the subject of “Understanding Extraterrestrial Soil Mechanics Through Low-Gravity Laboratory Testing” at ISAE-SUPAERO in Toulouse. There is also a possibility for the student to complete a 3-to-6-month Masters-level internship on this project before starting the PhD.

The goal of this thesis is to further our understanding of the response of planetary surfaces to geotechnical testing. The thesis will involve terrestrial and low-gravity experiments using a new facility at ISAE-SUPAERO.

We are particularly interested in candidates with experience in geotechnical soil testing and those familiar with soil or granular mechanics.

The PhD thesis will be funded through the ERC GRAVITE project.

For further information, see the attached [PDF].

Within the framework of research on erosion phenomena, this internship work aims to deepen the understanding of soil erosion processes through an advanced experimental approach. It is based on improving the current capabilities of the Erosion Function Apparatus (EFA) by simultaneously integrating several measurement instruments and techniques, such as Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), high-speed cameras, and photogrammetry. In parallel, soil characterization tests (water content, particle size distribution, Atterberg limits, etc.) will be carried out to establish a correlation between the geotechnical properties of soils and their erosion behavior. All these data will form a reference experimental database, which will later be used to develop a neural network model aimed at accelerating and automating the assessment of soil erosion risk.

For further information, see the attached [PDF].

At the Institute GeM of Centrale Nantes, we are currently offering three internship positions that could serve as Master thesis works starting from last week of February 2026. All three are paid internships and the work will be conducted onsite at Institute GeM (Nantes) within the Geomecahnics research unit.

The titles and the links to more details of the offers can be found below:

Internship 1: Study of thermo-poro viscous fingering instabilities: Single phase flow (https://www.euraxess.fr/jobs/383101). Context: Institute Carnot MERS Project STOLER

Internship 2: Numerical study of species transport across porous media during immiscible drainage (https://www.euraxess.fr/jobs/383415). Context: Academy PULSAR Project TRANSEC

Internship 3: Similitude analysis of chemo-mechanical phenomena in CO2 geological sequestration (https://www.euraxess.fr/jobs/382489). Context: ANR project LOCCO

Interested candidates should submit their applications soon.

We are pleased to announce two fully funded PhD positions within the ANR project ExoGeCo. The project aims to unravel the mechanical origins of geometric cohesion, a newly identified form of cohesion emerging in assemblies of non-convex, interlocking grains without any adhesive interactions. These metagranular materials can form self-supported, load-bearing structures purely due to shape-induced entanglement.
To explore this phenomenon, Exo2GeCo combines Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulations and 3D experimental investigations on custom-shaped grains to establish a unified framework linking grain geometry, contact networks, and macroscopic strength.

PhD 1 (LMGC – Univ. Montpellier): 3D numerical modeling of geometric cohesion using DEM.
PhD 2 (IMT Mines Alès): Experimental exploration using 3D-printed metagrains, shear/compression devices, and in-situ imaging.
Full description given in attachment

For further information, see the attached [PDF].