Dear Colleagues,

The Geotechnical Research Group at Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK is looking for a highly motivated and talented individual to fill a Ph.D. student position. The objective of the project is to develop A Physically-Based Early Warning System for Landslide Hazards in the UK. We will implement high-resolution radar data, slope stability analysis model, machine learning techniques and probabilistic back analysis methods to establish a novel early warning system for landslide hazards on a watershed scale.

The student will be supervised by probabilistic analysis, lab testing, remote sensing, and data analytics experts in the team and have the opportunity to cooperate with leading researchers in the field. The student will work closely with industry partners to deal with landslide early warning and forcasting.

More information can be found on the following link:

https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/a-physically-based-early-warning-system-for-landslide-hazards-in-the-uk/?p160028

Contact details for further information: xiaohui.qi@northumbria.ac.uk

I would be very grateful if you could pass on the link to anyone you think might be interested in the post.

Two, linked, postdoctoral positions are now available at Imperial College London and at Cambridge University to improve understanding of polymer support fluids.  The positions are funded by the UK EPSRC.

The position at Cambridge will experimentally examine the polymer conductivity of a range of polymer fluids in sand, while the position at Imperial College London will use computational fluid dynamics and pore network modelling to advance understanding of the fundamental interactions between polymer fluids and sand grains.

Details of the positions can be found here and informal inquiries can be made to Prof. Catherine O’Sullivan (cath.osullivan@imperial.ac.uk) or Dr. Brian Sheil (bbs24@cam.ac.uk).  Closing date: August 24 2023.

A PhD position is now open at ESTP (École Spéciale des Travaux Publics, du Bâtiment et de l’Industrie, Cachan, France) and at IC2MP (Institut de Chimie des Milieux et Matériaux, University of Poitiers, UMR CNRS 7285, France). The subject is : “Inorganic reactive gels for the in-situ stabilization-solidification of mercury contaminated subsoils”

ESTP is specialized in hydraulic binders and geopolymers, and the chemical and geotechnical characterization of treated matrices. The research carried out at IC2MP is at the interface between chemistry and geosciences. IC2MP has expertise in fluid injection into soils and treatment processes. It will be involved mainly in injection and treatability tests in relation with depollution goals.

More information on that pdf file.

NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology: The Department of Geoscience and Petroleum has a vacancy for a PhD position in Chalk mechanics – IV-99/23

About the position

We have a vacancy for a 3-year PhD fellowship at the Department of Geoscience and Petroleum (IGP). The position is within the area of mechanics of chalk for wellbore stability, chalk influx and solids production, and methods of failure mitigation. The study can be experimental, analytical, or numerical depending on the background, qualifications, and interests of the candidate.

Geomechanics describes the behavior of rock and soils, and is essential to hydrocarbon production, geological CO2 storage, geothermal energy, and other underground operations. The Norwegian Continental Shelf has several large chalk fields, and chalk presents interesting and quite unique properties such as the possibility of liquefying and almost flowing under certain conditions. Over time, operators face increasing challenges with wellbore stability and chalk influx into wells.

The goal is to integrate new research and technology in AkerBP field operations through close interaction with AkerBP and by analyzing field data and operational practices. The candidate will collaborate with SINTEF and benefit from an ongoing joint research project between NTNU, SINTEF and AkerBP for transfer and application of technology developed in both projects. The position gives unique insight into field operations and industry relevant research, and the successful completion of the PhD may lead to employment opportunities. The research and gained competence are relevant to many fields of geoscience, energy, civil, and mechanical engineering, and engineering physics that involve coupled problems and failure.

The PhD student will be assigned to the Department of Geoscience and Petroleum and will be supervised by Prof. Alexandre Lavrov and co-supervised by Dr. Euripides Papamichos. 

https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/246456/phd-position-in-chalk-mechanics-iv-99-23

Application deadline 03 Sept 2023.

Applications are welcome for a 4-year fully-funded PhD position at Uppsala University, Sweden. This PhD project will have a focus on developing numerical models for predicting the geometrical and hydrological (e.g., flow and transport) properties of fracture networks as well as coupled hydromechanical effects, based on field experimental data. The research aims to provide implications for the long-term safety assessment of deep geologic repositories, including related risks and uncertainties. The research will be done in the context of the international DECOVALEX project (https://decovalex.org/), a large international research collaboration with the objective to advance the understanding and modeling of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes in geological systems.

The deadline for application is 1 September 2023. Please see attached pdf file for details.

At KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (Sweden), the Division of Soil and Rock Mechanics is looking for a doctoral student for the research project “Developed compaction control for future quality assurance”. Compaction is the most common ground improvement method and is used extensively in construction of roads and railways. An important part of the process is to quantify and verify the compaction result. However, the current methods for acceptance control of compaction are ineffective and uncertain. This project aims to develop the continuous compaction control (CCC) technique to better correlate with tests like Plate load tests (PLT) and thus decrease the need of manual acceptance control. The work tasks include a series of full scale tests in the roller manufacturer Dynapac’s road laboratory, evaluation of measurement data, numerical calculations, writing scientific articles, taking postgraduate courses, and teaching. Knowledge in geodynamics is considered a merit for the position.

The vacancy ad and further details about the project and the employment can be found here:
https://www.kth.se/en/om/work-at-kth/lediga-jobb/what:job/jobID:631742/type:job/where:4/apply:1

Last application date is 11 August 2023.

You are interested in the development of offshore wind energy and have a passion for geotechnical engineering? This PhD position is for you.

We are looking for a motivated PhD student to work on the “Design of shared anchors for offshore floating renewables”. Many wind farms will be floating in the future to harvest more energy in deep waters. Shared anchors are a potential solution to reduce their overall installation cost, by reducing the number of anchors to be installed. However, the complex loading that is applied to them by several mooring lines could lead to their premature failure.

In this PhD, you will use the brand-new geotechnical centrifuge at the University of Southampton to experimentally simulate the cyclic loading of shared anchors. You will combine those experiments with advanced numerical modelling to better understand the shared anchor behaviour and propose guidance for industry.

All details about the application are available here: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-research/projects/design-of-shared-anchors-for-offshore-floating-renewables

The Department of Civil, Environmental, Land, Building Engineering and Chemistry (DICATECh) of Politecnico di Bari invites public applications for a 3-years scholarship for the PhD programme in Risk, Environmental, Territorial and Building Development (DRSATE) to carry out a doctoral research on Monitoring and Modelling of Deep Excavations in Urban Environment.

The deadline for application is at 13:00 (Italian time) of 17 July 2023. The evaluation of CVs and the interviews will be held online between 20 July and 1 August 2023.

Further details in the attached file.

We are seeking a highly motivated PhD student with a strong background in inverse methods in geotechnical/civil engineering to participate in an interdisciplinary research project, which focuses on the development of cutting-edge 3D Digital Twin (DT) technology. We aim to develop innovative solutions for monitoring, early detection, and warning systems of geo-infrastructure (e.g., embankments, tailing dams) affected by climate change. The project will take place at Polytechnique Montréal and will be led by Professor Pooneh Maghoul. The project will be conducted in close collaboration with Professors Giovanni Beltrame (Software Engineering) and Soumaya Yacout (Mathematical and Industrial Engineering) at Polytechnique Montreal.

More information in this pdf file.

The Center for geosciences and geoengineering of Mines Paris, PSL research University, is offering a PhD position devoted to the investigation of the long-term mechanical behaviour of rock salt. Indeed, rock salt has very interesting properties for underground storage and disposal, and salt caverns have been used for decades to store hydrocarbons and other substances (compressed air, hydrogen, chemical wastes, etc.). As part of the energy transition to low-carbon sources, underground storage will play a very important role, and hundreds of new salt caverns will be created in Europe in the coming years. Studies of the feasibility and long-term stability of these facilities need to be based on constitutive laws that can be extrapolated over long periods of time. However, the development of such laws is still a major engineering challenge, and further research combining different scales is needed.

We are looking forward to receiving applications from highly motivated and curious candidates with a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in earth sciences, preferably rock mechanics. Applications are expected ASAP, with a deadline on July 20, 2023. Please see attached pdf file for details.