HOSTING
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3 years Phd – beginning in October 2022
18 months in the IMERYS company (www.imerys.com), Lyon, France
18 months in the IRCER laboratory (www.ircer.fr), Limoges, France

PROJECT
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This PhD is part of the CESAREF European Industrial Doctoral Network

OBJECTIVES
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To conduct developments of numerical tools based on the discrete element method (DEM) for investigation of the relationships between microstructure and thermomechanical properties of model materials. These developments include debounding, thermomechanical coupling, crack-closure and anisotropic behaviours. These developments will lead to a “virtual numerical lab” able to provide tensile, dilatometry, fracture mechanics or thermal shock virtual tests for virtual characterizations. The related developments will be integrated to the free DEM software GranOO.

CONTACTS
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Damien André, damien.andre@unilim.fr, Limoges University

More information on this pdf file.

Description: A 4-year PhD position on modeling gas migration in bentonite-based engineered barrier for deep geological repository (DGR) of nuclear waste is now open in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Ottawa, Canada. The option of disposing of nuclear waste in a deep geological repository is currently being studied in several countries, including Canada. In a DGR system, a series of engineered (EB) and natural (NB) barriers will work together to contain and isolate nuclear waste to protect people and the environment. However, a significant amount of gas can be generated in a DGR from several processes. Gas migration through the bentonite-based barrier could jeopardize the safety of the DGR. Thus, a thorough understanding and proper modeling of gas migration through bentonite-based barrier is essential for the design and safety evaluation of a DRG. The successful applicant will: (i) develop suitable mathematical models to describe and predict gas migration in bentonite-based materials; (ii) validate the models against laboratory experiments and in-situ tests; (iii) numerically simulate gas migration through the buffer and shaft of a potential Canadian DGR. The selected candidate will collaborate as part of a research team, including, professors, federal and industry partners, with ongoing research activities on DGR technology in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Ottawa. In addition, the selected candidate will have the opportunity to participate in international conferences/seminars to present the results of his/her research.

Scholarship: The successful candidate will receive a PhD admission scholarship of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Ottawa (Admission scholarship | University of Ottawa (uottawa.ca).

Requirements: Applicants should possess a Master in Geotechnical Engineering, Civil Engineering, or related disciplines. Demonstrated research experience in the areas of constitutive modeling, finite element method and/or multiphysics modeling is required for this position. Applicants should meet the PhD admission criteria of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Ottawa.

Supervision: Prof. M. Fall, Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ottawa

Application deadline: August 31, 2022.

Application procedure: If you are interested in this PhD position, please send your CV and a motivation letter (email message) to Prof. M. Fall (mfall@uottawa.ca) by August 31, 2022.

Applications are welcomed for a 18 months postdoc position in IRSN (Institute of Radiation protection and nuclear safety, France ) to investigate gas migration in natural and swelling clays. Further information on this position can be found in the attached document.

A PhD position on geotechnical engineering is now open at Politecnico di Bari, as part of the PhD Programme in Risk, Environmental, Territorial and Building Development at the DICATECh Department. The position is funded for 3 years: it will be mainly based at the Geotechnical Division of the Politecnico di Bari (Italy) except for an internship of 6 months at the Italian Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems CNR-IRET in Pisa (Italy) and 9 months at the Institute for Geotechnical Engineering at ETH-Zurich (Switzerland).

Applications are welcome to apply for the project “SMARTSEAS – Sustainable Materials by Recycling and Treating Sediments, Shells And Seagrass”, funded in the field of the NEXT GENERATION EU programmes.

The PhD project SMARTSEAS intends to foster a change of perspective in the management of high-impact blue waste, such as dredged marine sediments, mussel shells and beached Posidonia oceanica. The project aims to transform them into new materials and industrial by-products. The research will benefit from the collaboration between research groups in Italy and abroad and companies in the industrial sector. The possibility of recycling mussel shells, suitably treated, as a partial replacement of commercial cements has been recently investigated for stabilising dredged marine sediments with less environmental impact but similar same chemo-hydro-mechanical effectiveness. Based on these results, SMARTSEAS will contribute to the optimisation of the design of innovative solutions for the chemo-hydro-mechanical stabilisation of sediments and the reuse of other blue waste materials, by multiscale testing and modelling.

We are looking forward to receiving applications from highly motivated and curious candidates with master’s degree (or equivalent) in civil or environmental engineering and specialisation in geotechnics or related area.

Candidates can find more details on the PhD position and the submission procedures at the following link: http://www.poliba.it/it/dottorati-di-ricerca, in the section Risk and Environmental, Territorial and Building Development PH.D.

Call for application PhD Programmes (XXXVIII cycle):
http://www.poliba.it/sites/default/files/dottorati/rd_688_call_for_applications_phd_programmes_poliba_xxxviii_0.pdf

Annex:
http://www.poliba.it/sites/default/files/dottorati/attachment_3_drsate_phd_programme.pdf (see grant number three)

Topic: “SMARTSEAS – Sustainable Materials by Recycling and Treating Sediments, Shells And Seagrass”

Application deadline: 5 September 2022 (at 09:00 Italian time)

Contact details for further information: claudia.vitone@poliba.it

Two Postdoc positions are now open the the CURE project on sustainable landfilling, at TU Delft:

CURE Postdoc position on modelling of landfill emissions: https://www.tudelft.nl/over-tu-delft/werken-bij-tu-delft/vacatures/details/?nPostingId=2849&nPostingTargetId=7560&id=QEZFK026203F3VBQBLO6G68W9&LG=UK&mask=external 

CURE Postdoc on gas & liquid tracer testing: https://www.tudelft.nl/over-tu-delft/werken-bij-tu-delft/vacatures/details/?nPostingId=2867&nPostingTargetId=7600&id=QEZFK026203F3VBQBLO6G68W9&LG=UK&mask=external

Furthermore, a TT track position in geo-environmental engineering is also open. More information on this pdf file.

The section of Geo-Engineering at Delft University of Technology is searching for a doctoral student to enhance the understanding and modelling of the hydro-mechanical behaviour of organic soils containing gas bubbles.

Organic soils are extremely vulnerable to climate change as increased temperatures accelerate drying, shrinkage and decomposition of the organic matter. Gases such as CH₄ and CO₂ produced by the decomposition of the organic matter saturate the pore fluid and can eventually be exsolved as bubbles by temperature increase, atmospheric pressure decrease, and unloading. Gas bubbles in soils can compromise the performance and safety of structures and infrastructure with irreversible deformations and reduction of resistance. Research on the effects of gas bubbles on the response of organic soils is still at an early stage and a comprehensive geotechnical model for the effects of gas in organic soils is still lagging behind. The project aims at deepening the understanding and modelling of the hydro-mechanical behaviour of organic soils containing gas bubbles to mitigate the impact of climate-related hazards in natural organic soils.

The twofold aim of the PhD project is:

• To experimentally investigate the coupled hydro-mechanical behaviour of organic soils containing gas bubbles both at the micro- and the macro-scale with advanced image analysis techniques and element testing.
• To enhance existing constitutive models for organic soils in order to include the effects of gas in the prediction of their geotechnical behaviour.

The selected candidate will collaborate in a research team with ongoing research activities in experimental soil mechanics at TU Delft. The PhD candidate will benefit from advanced experimental laboratory facilities including triaxial apparatuses, geotechnical centrifuge and X-ray micro-CTalready available in the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences of TU Delft and partner institutions, and the support of experienced technical staff.

More information about the vacancy and the employment conditions can be found in this PDF FILE.

Are you interested in this vacancy? Please apply before 22nd August 2022 via the TU Delft website (Job details (tudelft.nl)) and upload a detailed CV, a motivation letter (1 page maximum), and contact details of 2 referees.

For further information please contact:

Dr. Stefano Muraro   S.Muraro@tudelft.nl

Prof. Dr. Cristina Jommi  C.Jommi@tudelft.nl.

France Energies Marines is conducting, together with other partners (Nantes Université, EDF, WPD, TotalEnergies, Technip Energies, Université Grenoble Alpes, Innosea, Eolfi, Saipem, Université Gustave Eiffel), the MUTANC project. This project aims to study the potential of mutualised anchors to reduce the levelised cost of energy of floating offshore wind farms.

Within this project, a post-doctoral position has been defined in order to assess the geotechnical performances of mutualised pile anchors under multidirectional and cyclic loading, by means of numerical studies. The expected results involve the identification of the key parameters driving the design of mutualized anchors.

Candidates can find more details on the post-doctoral position and submit their application via the following link : https://www.france-energies-marines.org/en/join-us/post-doctorate-position-in-geotechnical-analysis-of-mutualized-anchors-f-m/

Application deadline : Sunday, July 31, 2022

Contact details for further information : Abed.Soubra@univ-nantes.fr