A call is open to award one researcher/PhD student grant within the I&D Project INTENT – Intelligent health monitoring of road infrastructures using bender elements embedded in pavements, reference 2022.06879.PTDC, funded by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT). The recipient is expected to conduct research in the field of Computational Geomechanics at the Lusófona University of Lisbon.

Job:  Research grant for MSc graduates, with an option to undertake a PhD

Research field: Computational Geomechanics

Stating date: 01.06.2023

Salary: €16,135.68 per annum (€13,735.68 net annual salary)

Duration: 30 months

Application deadline: April, 20, 2023

Applications must be made through an application letter together with the following documents: Curriculum Vitae, certificates of graduation degrees, and any other documents considered relevant by the candidate. The documents should be sent to Professor Ionut Dragos Moldovan,  dragos.moldovan@ulusofona.pt (or dragos.moldovan@gmail.com).

A “Maître de Conférences” position in Geomechanics at Ecole centrale de
Nantes GeM (Institut de recherche en Génie Civil et Mécanique) is open.
More information on the attached pdf file.

A lecturer (« Maître de Conférences ») position in Geomechanics at University of Poitiers and IC2MP (interdisciplinary chemistry-geoscience laboratory of Poitiers) is open. More information on the enclosed pdf file.

A new PhD position is now open at Ecole des Ponts ParisTech on “Impact of chemical transients on swelling and self-sealing of damaged clay rock.”

More information on this pdf file.

For application send (CV, motivation letter, referees name and recommendation
letters) to Yu Jun Cui ( yu-jun.cui@enpc.fr) and Nadia Mokni (Nadia.mokni@irsn.fr).

A postdoc position is now open in computational geomechanics at Department of Civil Engineering of Zhejiang University, China (QS ranking 2022: 45^th). The project is on the multiscale simulation of chemo-hydro-mechanical coupling in geotechnical problems with particular focus on landslide problems and tailings dam failure.

The postdoc will perform independent research under the supervision of Dr. Yanni Chen (https://person.zju.edu.cn/en/yannichen), in close contact with our two international collaborators: Prof. Giuseppe Buscarnera at Northwestern University and Prof. Itai Einav at the University of Sydney. A background on numerical modelling and Multiphysics coupling would be highly appreciated.

This is a two-year fixed term contract with possible extensions if needed and can be started immediately. Annual salary is around EUR 40,000 with extra bonus based on performance and contributions to the department.

Interested applicants can forward a single PDF consisting of a 1-page cover letter, a full CV, and contact details of two references to Dr Yanni Chen (yanni.chen@zju.edu.cn). The review of candidates will begin on April 1^st, 2023, and applications will be accepted until the position is filled. For any additional information, see the attached pdf or please write a message to yanni.chen@zju.edu.cn.

Dr Xuzhen He from UTS is seeking high-achieving PhD students in 2023. The research project is “Modernise geotechnical investigation and analysis with machine learning”, which is funded by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project. Candidates with knowledge and research experience in computational geomechanics and/or machine learning are
encouraged to apply.

More information on the attached pdf. Applications can be sent to Dr Xuzhen He (hexuzhen@outlook.com; xuzhen.he@uts.edu.au). The positions are open until filled.

This position is available as a joint project between The University of Sydney (Australia) and CNRS-IUSTI (France, Marseille).

Contact: pierre.rognon@sydney.edu.au

Position flyer:  attached

Two PhD positions are now open at Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, one on “Investigating the mechanical behaviour of frozen soils by particle and mesoscale observations” and another one on “Investigating the cyclic thermo-mechanical behaviour of an energy pile subjected to combined loading by using field tests and load transfer method”.

More information on the pdf files :

Investigating the mechanical behaviour of frozen soils by particle and mesoscale observations

Investigating the cyclic thermo-mechanical behaviour of an energy pile subjected to combined loading by using field tests and load transfer method

Prof. Olivier Buzzi and Dr. Jubert Pineda (from the Priority Research Centre for Geotechnical Science and Engineering of the University of Newcastle, Australia), Prof. Mark Jaksa (University of Adelaide, Australia) and A/Prof Marti Lloret Cabot (Durham University, UK), are seeking for a highly motivated student to undertake a PhD research on the volumetric response of unsaturated expansive soils. Such soils cause billions of structural damage every year worldwide, including in Europe and Australia, and remain a challenge for researchers and geotechnical practitioners. The response of the expansive soils will be investigated via a series of deformation tests under suction-controlled conditions with measurement of microstructure evolution. The data will be used to establish a simple yet robust constitutive framework that can predict the response of expansive soils upon loading and hydraulic actions.

The laboratory in which the research will take place is state-of-the-art and includes several advanced laboratory techniques to impose and measure suction. The scholarship is worth $32,000 per annum, tax free, for a duration of 3.5 years. In addition, the student will receive $1,500 of relocation support and $1500 per annum for their research project. Newcastle is located 160 km north of Sydney and it is a great location with vibrant life and great beaches.

The start date for the PhD can be discussed but it needs to start in 2023.  

Please contact Olivier Buzzi for information or to express your interest: Olivier.Buzzi@newcastle.edu.au 

This 4-year PhD project at the University of Strathclyde is funded by UK Research Waste Management Research Support Office (RWM RSO) and aims to provide an experimental characterization on the hydromechanical behaviour of compacted bentonite when wetted with high salinity water.

Bentonite is currently proposed as a backfill material for high heat generating wastes and fuels. It is also proposed as a seal material for access ways (shafts/drifts/tunnels) and investigation boreholes.

The PhD candidate will explore, at the micro and meso scales, the impact of salinity on key physical properties of bentonite (e.g. swelling pressure and hydraulic conductivity) and the fundamental mechanisms underlying these processes. The research will mainly be experimentally-based and the PhD candidate will make use of the geomechanics laboratory (https://www.strath.ac.uk/engineering/civilenvironmentalengineering/ourfacilities/geomechanicslaboratories/) and of state of the art technologies for the investigation of the clay microstructure including X-Ray Computed Tomography, Environmental Scanning Microscopy, and Mercury Intrusion Porosimeter (https://www.strath.ac.uk/research/advancedmaterialsresearchlaboratory/ ).

The PhD candidate will be supervised by Dr Matteo Pedrotti and Prof Rebecca Lunn at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.

Applicants will have a relevant bachelors or master’s degree, examples include civil engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Physics. As part of the research, the applicant will be expected to participate in relevant national and international conferences, meet with the industrial/university partners and to develop journal papers within the research field.

How to apply:

Please contact matteo.pedrotti@strath.ac.uk

University of Strathclyde website: https://www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/postgraduateresearchphdopportunities/?subject=Civil%20and%20environmental%20engineering

Findaphd.com:  https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/experimental-characterisation-of-bentonite-hydromechanical-behaviour-in-high-salinity-environment/?p155220