Dear colleagues:

We are seeking a doctoral student to join the Division of Soil and Rock Mechanics at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, and contribute to the climate adaptation of society’s infrastructure. This 4-year position is part of a novel interdisciplinary research project focused on developing sustainable solutions for climate adaptation strategies. The project has high practical relevance and is expected to make an important impact on society’s climate transition. As a doctoral student, you will work closely with both geotechnical engineers and risk philosophers to study how uncertainties in climate change predictions influence the reliability of geotechnical structures.

More information in this link: https://www.kth.se/lediga-jobb/896310?l=en
Deadline 12 March 2026 (unless extended).

Best regards,
Johan Spross

Dear colleagues,

Please find attached the announcement for two funded Ph.D. positions in Geomechanics and Geotechnics at McMaster University. These positions are offered in Dr. Tingting Xu’s research group (Department of Civil Engineering) and focus on advancing the fundamental physics and numerical methods for subsurface materials and coupled thermo‑hydro‑chemo‑mechanical processes. Applicants should hold a degree in Civil or Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related discipline, ideally with a specialization in structural engineering, geomechanics, or solid mechanics. Please share this announcement with any students or colleagues who might be interested.

Best regards,
Tingting

For further information, see the attached [PDF].

Dear colleagues,

Please find attached the announcement for the 2026 Andra-funded PhD position, with a subject proposed within the framework of a collaboration between Université de Lorraine and University of Thessaly (Greece).

The doctoral project concerns the following topic: Role of Confining Interface Properties on Buckling of Underground Steel Tubes.

The Academic background of the applicants should be: Master’s degree (M2) in Civil Engineering, or Engineering Mechanics, with specialization in Structures and/or Solid Mechanics;

Please feel free to circulate this announcement widely among your students and to any colleagues who may be interested.

Best Regards,
Mahdia

For further information, see the attached [PDF].

A 12-month postdoctoral position is available at Nantes University (Saint-Nazaire campus) within the SLOOP project (Stochastic Loads on Offshore Piles), funded by the ORACLE LabEx.

The postdoctoral researcher will contribute to WP2, focusing on soil–pile interaction modelling under monotonic and cyclic loading. Tasks include developing 3D finite-element models in ABAQUS, calibrating advanced soil constitutive models using geotechnical centrifuge test data from Université Gustave Eiffel, and contributing to P–y curve development. Close collaboration with École Centrale de Nantes and Université Gustave Eiffel is expected.

For further information, see the attached [PDF].

For further information, see the attached [PDF].

Neutron and X-ray Tomography of plants and bio-structures

We are seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral research fellow to advance high-resolution imaging in biomaterials using the Institut Laue Langevin’s Neutron and X-ray Tomograph (NeXT) instrument. This 3 years position will focus on investigating the potential of neutron imaging techniques for micro-structural analysis of biological materials including plants and plant-soil interactions.

Candidates must submit a research plan (3-5 pages, maximum 10 pages) directly related to this research topic, outlining work to be conducted during the fellowship period. Deadline March the 2nd, 2026

This research fellow position is part of the EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) COFUND research project AMBER. More information can be found here https://www.ill-recruits.eu/generator.php?id=2128 and in the attached pdf

For further information, see the attached [PDF].

Fully funded PhD studentship at Imperial College London.

Structural energy storage is an emerging field with the potential to transform sustainable infrastructure in which materials are designed to simultaneously perform mechanical and energy storage functions. While early research has focused on composites and cementitious systems, this PhD project will investigate a largely unexplored alternative: natural clay soils enhanced with conductive and electrochemically active phases.

Clay minerals possess charged nanoscale surfaces, rich pore-fluid chemistry, and unique physico‑chemical interactions. These characteristics make them a promising yet under‑studied platform for electrochemical energy storage. The aim of this PhD is to establish a fundamental, experimentally grounded understanding of how electrochemical functionality can be introduced into clay-rich geomaterials without compromising their mechanical performance in geotechnical applications.

Deadline to apply: 27 February

For further information, see the attached [PDF].

Université Gustave Eiffel, MSME Laboratory is recruiting a PhD candidate for the project “Modelling and Simulation of Hydrogen Transport and Damage in Clay Rocks.”

Workplace: MSME Laboratory, Université Gustave Eiffel.

Profile: Applicants should hold or be completing a Master’s degree in civil engineering, mechanics, or a related field, and have a resident in France. A strong background in solid mechanics and experience in programming and numerical simulation are required. Preference will be given to candidates with experience in fracture mechanics and fluid transport in porous media.

Start date: October 2026.

Application:
If you are interested in this PhD topic, please send the following documents:
i) A recent CV;
ii) Academic transcripts (M1/M2 or equivalent);
iii) A recommendation letter from your internship supervisor or Master’s program coordinator;

to the following email address: quy-dong.to@univ-eiffel.fr

For further information, see the attached [PDF].

The Geo-Energy Lab at EPFL, led by Prof. Lecampion, has opportunities to pursue a fully funded PhD within the EPFL doctoral program.

The aim of this thesis is to advance the mechanics of fluid-driven fracture. Notably the interaction between fault-slip and tensile hydraulic fracture growth in relation to deep geothermal energy (among other applications). It will combine laboratory experiments with theoretical developments – using both our unique polyaxial apparatus, as well as our numerical modeling tools developed for this class of problems.
Primary goal is to combine distributed fiber optic strain measurement with microseismic monitoring at decimeter scales.

For further information, see the attached [PDF].

“Coupled hydro-chemo-mechanical instabilities in geomaterials: laboratory scale experimental analysis of phenomena occurring in CO2 geological sequestration”

The objectives of the research activity will be to reproduce at the laboratory scale the scenarios representative of the interactions between the acidic solution stored in the reservoir rock and the sealing caprock. To this purpose analog materials will be designed which will allow to carry out tests within the loading capacity of BIAX (about 1.5 MPa) being representative of the response of real shale-like geomaterials under in-situ loading conditions (hundred of MPa).
The scientific program should respect the following itemized list of tasks
– developing the experimental campaign based on oedometer tests, during the secondment period at Strathclyde University (UK);
– calibrating the upgraded experimental apparatus;
– exploiting the experimental protocol relative to the campaign to be conducted together with a Post-Doc researcher

For further information, see the attached [PDF].

PhD scholarship at Laboratoire de Mécanique et de Génie Civil (LMGC), Université de Montpellier, France.
This thesis is about the numerical and experimental investigation of the micromechanical phenomena involved in the generation of waves by the collapse of a granular mass into a body of water.

For further information, see the attached [PDF].