A 1-year post-doc position is available at Politecnico di Milano, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, on Molecular Dynamics simulations of superlubric granular particles.

The position is part of the project “SSLiP: Scaling-up SuperLubricity into Persistence” funded by an HORIZON-EIC-2021 Pathfinder-Open Grant. The project aims at studying the advanced lubricant properties of particular granular materials to establish a radically new way to drastically reduce friction.

A full description and information how to apply is given in the attached pdf and at https://www.polimi.it/en/faculty/working-at-the-politecnico/research-grants/a-r-default-2866a654d2

Candidates must hold a PhD degree in one of these disciplines: Computational Mechanics, Mechanical/Mathematical/Civil Engineering, Granular Physics, Computer science, Tribology or similar fields.

A background in computational mechanics, especially on molecular dynamics simulations, and in data processing is preferential.

For any additional information, see the attached pdf or please write a message to: diego.berzi@polimi.it or dalila.vescovi@polimi.it

Project starting date: April 1st, 2023

Net salary per month: ~EUR 2,000

Supervision: Prof. Diego Berzi, Dr. Dalila Vescovi

Application deadline: February 21st, 2023

In the context of deep nuclear wastes storage deep galleries will be backfilled with clay-based materials. These backfill must have specific hydromechanical properties to prevent water circulation along the repository after its closure. The backfill material will be partly made from the excavated material, i.e. Callovo-Oxfordian argillite that would have been stored at surface during the exploitation period, and mixed with sand to reach the target design properties. The hydromechanical properties of the backfill must remain stable over time. It is thus necessary to determine the relative impact of several factors such as the setting conditions, nature and dosage of treatment product, etc. on the properties of the backfill. The thesis will be focused at understanding the cross relationship between macroscopic hydromechanical properties, the reorganization of the material microstructure due to the swelling of clay particles upon hydration as well as the alteration processes associated to the circulation of alkaline water.

More information on this pdf file.

A Research Fellowship position is open at the National Laboratory for Civil Engineering in Lisboa, Portugal, in the framework of the project “Geosustained – Sustainability assessment of shallow Geo-thermal systems for Lisbon. Characterization studies of the city soils thermal and thermomechanical behaviour”.

More information on this pdf file.

A “Maître de Conférences” (Lecturer) position at ENS Paris-Saclay and LMPS laboratory is open. More information on this pdf file.

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. To keep pace with the rapidly developed digital technologies, the project will perform data analytics of geotechnical and geophysical data using novel machine learning methods, with a focus on dealing with large quantities of multivariate, incomplete, 3-dimensional data subject to spatial variability.

The objective of the project is to develop a three-dimensional spatially variable geological profile with a reasonable quantification of the uncertainties. Various machine-learning methods will be explored to make the geological model explicit (i.e., to be not a black box) and incorporate human knowledge and judgment. The student will be supervised by data analytic, geotechnical and geophysical experts in the team and have the opportunity to cooperate with leading researchers in the field of data analytics in geoengineering. The student will work closely with industry partners to deal with geological modeling challenges in geologically complex areas.

More information can be found on the following link: https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/data-driven-site-characterization-using-geotechnical-and-geophysical-data-rdf23-mce-qi/?p151500

Title : Durability study of roads containing alternative materials by dielectric and mechanical characterizations

Starting: November 2023 (36 months funding by Cerema)

Supervisors: Alain Sylvestre, Cyrille Fauchard, Benhui Fan and Jean-Marc Duchamp

Laboratory: G2ELab (Université Grenoble Alpes) and Endsum (Cerema)

Location: Grenoble (50%), Angers (50%), France

Keywords: dielectric permittivity, viscoelastic properties, ageing, road materials

To be submitted to: benhui.fan@cerema.fr; alain.sylvestre@g2elab.grenoble-inp.fr;
cyrille.fauchard@cerema.fr; jean-marc.duchamp@g2elab.grenoble-inp.fr
The application should include: a detailed CV and if possible, recommendation letters.

Application deadline : 30 April 2023.

The GeoEnergy Research (Prof. Andreas Busch) and MuPhi (Prof. Florian Doster) Research Groups at Heriot-Watt University are looking for a motivated PhD researcher to work on the impact of multiphase flow effects on fault leakage from geological reservoirs used for fluid storage, focusing specifically on CCS and hydrogen. This research will ground on recent data that has been obtained from multiscale 4D X-ray imaging at the Swiss Light Source. It will provide new and detailed insights into the multiphase fluid dynamics in rough fractures. Using novel data from synchrotron experiments will support more accurate predictions of the potential fluid leak rates from subsurface reservoirs. These are urgently needed to improve our confidence in subsurface fluid storage over long periods of time. This research can be divided into the following objectives:

1. Develop a robust understanding of multiphase flow in rough fractures, based on 4D flow data. The data will be analysed towards displacement to obtain relative permeability and capillary pressure curves at a given effective stress but with varying surface roughness, aperture heterogeneity, and flow rates (capillary numbers).
2. Represent fracture flow phenomena at the Darcy scale in physical models for fractures and fracture networks. This will support caprock leakage risk assessments by improving our confidence in the determination of leak rates by bringing together fracture network data (from previous research by the PI/co-Is) and upscaled fluid displacement models from this research.

This scholarship is available to UK and overseas students and in partnership with Shell Global Solutions. Funding is secured for 42 months and we aim for a May 2023 start. Application deadline is January 29^th.

Further details can be found on the university website:

https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/schools/energy-geoscience-infrastructure-society/postgraduate-research/evaluation-of-fault-leakage-rates-in-the-context-of.htm