Author Archives: David Riley

PhD and Postdoc positions at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden

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Chalmers University of Technology located in the beautiful city of Gothenburg, West Coast of Sweden, has several research positions available related to geotechnics and soil-structure interaction.

The candidates will benefit from a competitive salary (with full social security and pension cover), a collaborative work environment and a strong emphasis on work-life balance as a driver for excellence. Chalmers is a great university for young researchers to grow, given our strong ties to both academia and industry. In addition to research, you will have ample opportunities for skills and career development, such as opportunities for teaching, supervision, language courses and proposal writing for your career development.

Currently open positions:

PhD candidate for Constitutive Modelling of Rate-Effects in Sensitive Clays – deadline April 16, 2025

https://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/work-with-us/vacancies/?rmpage=job&rmjob=13728&rmlang=UK

Postdoc for Constitutive Modelling of Sensitive Clays – deadline April 16, 2025

https://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/work-with-us/vacancies/?rmpage=job&rmjob=13751&rmlang=UK

Postdoc for system-level analyses of physical railway infrastructure – deadline April 20, 2025

https://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/work-with-us/vacancies/?rmpage=job&rmjob=13750&rmlang=UK

For further information, please see the official advert liked above.

CALL for Abstracts for the Third Workshop on the Future of Machine Learning in Geotechnics (3FOMLIG)

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The Third Workshop on the Future of Machine Learning in Geotechnics (3FOMLIG: Ethics and intelligences for a geotechnical Renaissance) will take place in Florence, Italy, on October 15-17, 2025 (https://fomlig2025.com/).

The deadline for extended abstract submissions is April 15, 2025.

The technical program of 3FOMLIG includes a wide variety of sessions and initiatives aimed at fostering collaboration and interaction between geotechnical students, researchers, and practitioners:

  • Welcome lecture
  • Keynote lectures
  • GEOAI Distinguished Lecture
  • ISSMGE Bright Spark Lectures
  • Parallel technical sessions
  • Hackathons
  • 3FOMLIG NextGen initiatives
  • 7th Machine Learning in Geotechnics Dialogue
  • Free short course for students

PhD position: Innovative soil mechanical testing at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

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The Institute of Soil Mechanics and Rock Mechanics (IBF) at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology seeks a PhD candidate to develop improved sample preparation methods for triaxial testing of sands.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Develop and test new soil sample preparation techniques.
  • Integrate digital simulation with experimental work.
  • Conduct experiments, analyze data, and publish findings.

Qualifications:

  • M.Sc. in Civil/Mechanical Engineering, Applied Mechanics, or a related field.
  • Background in soil mechanics, applied physics, laboratory experiments, and programming.
  • Willingness to learn new skills; knowledge of German is beneficial.

More details can be found in the following pdf: position file.

3 PhD positions in geo-energy at Utrecht University, the Netherlands

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The Experimental Rock Deformation Group (High Pressure and Temperature Lab) at Utrecht University is looking for 3 highly motivated PhD candidates to work on the laboratory experiments and numerical modelling of geothermal energy systems and underground hydrogen storage:

• PhD 1: Experimentation on Fluid-injection Induced Seismicity in Geothermal Systems

• PhD 2: Numerical Modelling of Fluid-injection Induced Seismicity

• PhD 3: Hydrogen Storage in Porous Geological Formations

The application deadline is on 6 April 2025.

Here are the links to these 3 subjects: position 1, position 2, and position 3.

Contact: w.cao2@uu.nl

Abstract of the ALERT Special Lecture 2025

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Mechanics-Informed Machine Learning for The Discovery of Constitutive Models

Charbel Farhat, Stanford University, US

With the advent of machine learning (ML), the use of deep artificial neural networks (ANNs) for data-driven constitutive modeling has gained prominence in computational mechanics. This is particularly true in the context of numerical homogenization for heterogeneous materials. Nonetheless, ANNs are not without shortcomings for constitutive modeling. In their standard form, they are built to simply map input data to output data – typically, without fundamental restrictions. Thus, when such ANNs are exploited in physics-based numerical simulations, they can violate some laws of physics, in which case confidence in the simulation-based predictions is reduced. Hence, this lecture will present a trustworthy ML framework for the data-driven discovery of constitutive models for heterogeneous materials that is broadly mechanics-informed. The framework enforces on the ANN’s architecture a long list of desirable mathematical properties that guarantees the satisfaction of an even longer list of physical/mechanical constraints, including: dynamic stability, material stability, and internal variable stability; objectivity; consistency; fading memory; recovery of elasticity; the second law of thermodynamics; and material non-inversion. The lecture will show that embedding these notions in a learning approach reduces a model’s sensitivity to noise and promotes its robustness to inputs outside the training domain. It will also highlight the merits of the proposed trustworthy ML framework for numerous engineering applications, including the prediction of the supersonic inflation dynamics of a parachute system with a canopy made of a woven fabric.

Charbel Farhat is the Vivian Church Hoff Professor of Aircraft Structures at Stanford University. He is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering (US); a Member of the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK); a Doctor Honoris Causa from Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers, Ecole Centrale de Nantes, and Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay; a designated ISI Highly Cited Author in Engineering; and a Fellow of AIAA, ASME, IACM, SES, SIAM, USACM, and WIF. He has trained about 100 PhD and post-doctoral students so far. For his research on aeroelasticity, aeroacoustic scattering, CFD, dynamic data-driven systems, fluid-structure interaction, high performance computing, model reduction, and physics-based machine learning, he has received many professional and academic distinctions including: the Ashley Award for Aeroelasticity and the Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Award from AIAA; the Spirit of St Louis Medal and a Lifetime Achievement Award from ASME; the Gordon Bell Prize and the Sidney Fernbach Award from IEEE; the Gauss-Newton Medal from IACM; the Grand Prize from the Japan Society for Computational Engineering Science; the John von Neumann Medal from USACM; and the Olof B. Widlund Prize for Excellence in Domain Decomposition Methods from DDM.org. He has served on the Scientific Advisory Board of the US Air Force and on the Space Technology Industry-Government-University Roundtable. He was also selected by the US Navy recruiters as a Primary Key-Influencer and flown by the Blue Angels.


PhD position: Innovative foundation design for offshore wind turbines

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The Civil Engineering Department at KU Leuven and the engineering company FUNDEX Verstraeten BV is excited to announce an opening for a highly enthusiastic and motivated individual to pursue full-time doctoral studies in the field of Offshore Geotechnics. This opportunity is a collaboration between the Hydraulics & Geotechnics Section, led by prof. Georgios Anogiatis, known as George Anoyatis, (Campus Bruges, Faculty of Engineering Technology) and the Structural Mechanics Section, led by prof. Stijn François (Campus Arenberg – Leuven, Faculty of Engineering Science) at KU Leuven with the support of prof. Hadrien Rattez at the Institute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering (IMMC) Laboratory, UCLouvain (Louvain-la-Neuve). 

With reference to Offshore Geotechnics, the academic partners from KU Leuven and UCLouvain are actively engaged in cutting-edge research projects focusing on foundations for offshore wind turbines, suction caissons, (mono)pile installation and extraction techniques. These projects combine theoretical developments with experimental approaches. Notably, we are part of a national collaborative research project titled “SAGE-SAND” that has established a testing site for monopile foundations in Zeebrugge, Belgium. More details about this project can be found on the project’s webpage: https://bwk.kuleuven.be/projects/sage-sand.
We look forward to welcoming a new member to our dynamic research team!

See the complete description of the position and apply via this link https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60439448

3 PhD positions in offshore geotechnical engineering at the Gustave Eiffel University, Nantes, France

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Gustave Eiffel University is looking for 3 highly motivated PhD candidates to work on the numerical and physical modeling in offshore geotechnical engineering :

  • Investigation of pile driving resistance in glauconite sand using centrifuge testing
  • Physical and numerical modeling of the installation of wingeg offshore pile anchors by vibro-driving 
  • Physical and numerical modeling of suction anchors for floating wind turbines under complex seabed drainage conditions

The application deadline is at the end of April 2025

Applicants must be available to start around 1st October 2022

Here are the links to these 3 subjects: position 1, position 2, and position 3.

Contact: matthieu.blanc@univ-eiffel.fr

Advanced CISM Course on “Crack Initiation and Failure in Complex Structures”

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The advanced CISM Course on “Crack Initiation and Failure in Complex Structures” will be organized in Udine, Italy, on June 9-13, 2025 

Website: https://cism.it/en/activities/courses/C2505/

Lecturers: 

       * Pedro Camanho – Universidade do Porto, Portugal 
       * Pietro Cornetti – Politecnico di Torino, Italy 
       * Aurélien Doitrand – MATEIS, INSA Lyon, Villeurbanne, France 
       * Vladislav Mantič – Universidad de Sevilla, Spain 
       * Philipp Weissgraeber – University of Rostock, Germany 
       * Zohar Yosibash – Tel-Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Israel 

Topics: 
This course offers an in-depth exploration of the novel Finite Fracture Mechanics (FFM) technique for modeling crack and failure initiation, with practical applications to real-world problems. It is designed for post-graduate students, expert researchers, and engineers who wish to understand, apply, or develop this approach. Various theories predict failure initiation in complex structures with stress concentrations or singularities, such as holes or V-notch tips. FFM allows to identify the structure-specific intrinsic length scale and extends the concepts of traditional fracture mechanics to more general configurations with stress concentrations or singularities beyond just a crack tip with a square root singularity. FFM has been validated through numerous experimental observations, successfully predicting failure initiation in complex geometries. In recent years, it has been extended to 3D domains, geometrical and material nonlinearities, and dynamic aspects, including subsonic crack propagation. It has proven effective in assessing fractures at the micro- or nano-scale, in bio-inspired and 3D-printed materials and composites. Additionally, it has provided a physical explanation for the regularization parameter in phase-field models for fracture and established a link with traction-separation profiles of cohesive zone models. These extensions, applications, and interactions with other fracture models make FFM a cutting-edge approach in failure modeling, which will be thoroughly discussed. Practical applications and hands-on exercises will enable participants to master FFM techniques. 

The proposed CISM course brings together six researchers who have extensively studied and applied FFM techniques. It will begin by addressing the framework and origin of FFM, including related experimental and theoretical aspects as well as numerical implementation. It will then focus on applications for a wide range of materials and configurations. Recent FFM extensions, including 3D applications, material nonlinearities such as plasticity or nonlinear elasticity, geometrical nonlinearities, dynamic and fatigue loadings, and FFM as an optimization problem, will be covered. The relationship of FFM to other fracture models will also be reviewed in detail. 

Venue: CISM (International Centre for Mechanical Sciences), Lectures will take place in the beautiful Palazzo del Torso in the center of Udine 
Format: The course is offered in hybrid format (presential and online). 

If you are interested in participating to the course, please contact the course coordinators to declare your interest (mantic@us.es, aurelien.doitrand@insa-lyon.fr) and register online at https://cism.it/en/activities/courses/C2505/.

Early Bird On-Site Participation deadline: April 9, 2025 
Registration deadline: May 27, 2025 (On-site places are limited and assigned on first come first served basis) 

For any questions feel free to contact us! 
Vladislav Mantič, Aurélien Doitrand (Coordinators) 

Cone Penetration Testing workshop

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Dear colleagues,

We are hosting and delivering a Cone Penetration Testing 2-Days practical workshop at Abertay University on 15th and 16th May. Purpose of the workshop is to provide opportunity for participants to work directly with our modern Cone Penetration Testing, collect field data and apply them to geotechnical design.

For more detailed information, please view the attached flyers here and here.

PhD position at ENPC in Geotechnical Engineering: Field investigation of an in-situ soil treatment solution for clay shrink-swell inhibition

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PhD position

Field investigation of an in-situ soil treatment solution for clay shrink-swell inhibition

A new PhD position is available at “Ecole nationale des ponts et chaussées”, France (ENPC).

This PhD subject is part of a research project (IRGAK) funded by ADEME (French Agency for Ecological Transition), coordinated by ESTP (https://www.estp.fr/en) and ENPC (https://ecoledesponts.fr/en). The project IRGAK aims to develop an in-situ soil treatment solution to inhibit the volume change of clayey soils during seasonal wetting-drying cycles. The PhD candidate will perform field-scale experiments to investigate the influence of the soil treatment solution on the hydro-chemo-mechanical behaviour of natural expansive clays. The developed solution must meet scientific, environmental, economic, and practical requirements. In particular, the solution must significantly and durably inhibit heave and subsidence associated with soil moisture variations, be harmless for the environment, remain considerably less expensive than underpinning works, and be easy to implement.

The candidate should have graduated in geotechnics, geomechanics, or environmental engineering, demonstrate laboratory capabilities, and be interested in scientific development and engineering applications.

For further information, please see the attached PDF.