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

A position as Associate professor in Risk management, design principles, and life-cycle assessment  is opened at Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (KTH), Sweden. To apply or for more information: 

https://kth.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:459497/where:4/

A PhD on “Helical pile: physical and numerical modeling for marine geotechnical applications” is now open in Université Gustave Eiffel – Campus de Nantes (ex IFSTTAR), at the centrifuge team – lab-CG. A short stay (4 weeks) in Brazil is also planned for the Ph.D candidate within the framework of this thesis, according to the work progress and experimental plans in connection with the University of Sao Paulo.

More information in the following link: https://www.ifsttar.fr/offres-theses/sujet.php?num=3677&num_session=2&ver=an

The Geotechnical Centrifuges laboratory of the Université Gustave Eiffel at Nantes (France) is searching for a new researcher in Geotechnical Engineering.  

The lab is looking for an exceptional individual to develop a significant independent research program as well as pursue synergistic collaborative research in geotechnical engineering related to physical modelling in centifuge and also to numerical modelling. Please see the attached description for more details regarding this position. 

Application will open on February 13, 2023 until March 17, 2023 on this link : 

https://www.concours.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/charge-e-de-recherche-du-developpement-durable-de-a126.html

Contact : matthieu.blanc@univ-eiffel.fr

We are offering a fully founded 3 years PhD-position in the field of numerical and experimental soil mechanics (Barbara Schneider-Muntau) at the University of Innsbruck starting in March/April 2023. We are looking forward to applications of motivated people to strengthen our team. Please apply until 21. February 2023 under: https://lfuonline.uibk.ac.at/public/karriereportal.details?asg_id_in=13272

A postdoc position is open in the Soil MicroMechanics group at the University of Twente (Netherlands) on the topic “Bio-inspired burrowing robot for soil penetration in limited-access sites”. 

The project involves the design, instrumentation and realization of a prototype probe for underground inspection and soil characterization.

The postdoc will work in a multidisciplinary team, in close contact with experts in the sector of soft robotics. He/She will closely collaborate with another postdoc on the geotechnical and geomechanics aspects of the project.

Applications are expected before 15 March 2023. For more and information and application, please follow the link 

https://utwentecareers.nl/en/vacancies/1043/postdoctoral-fellow-position-bio-inspired-burrowing-robot-for-soil-penetration-in-limited-access-sites/