The Geotechnics Section in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London is delighted to be recruiting new colleagues who wish to develop an academic career focusing on any of the following areas: (i) Geotechnical Engineering for Offshore Renewable Energy, (ii) Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering, or (iii) Geotechnics for Climate Change Resilience.   With these application areas in mind, we welcome applications from candidates with experience that could include soil-structure interaction, development of quantitative ground models for predictive analyses in offshore environments, laboratory testing, field investigations or numerical modelling, or other experience relevant to any of the three application areas listed.  

Candidates at the start of their academic careers should consider applying for the Lecturer/Senior lecturer position. 

Candidates with established academic careers should consider applying for the Reader/Chair  position. 

Informal inquires can be made to cath.osullivan@imperial.ac.uk .

We are looking to recruit two outstanding PhD candidates on the development of novel stress sensors for a wide range of applications. Each of these projects is expected to last 3.5 years and will be fully funded.

The first project will develop and characterise the sensors for geotechnical engineering purposes, to measure stresses underground. The student will first design a family of sensors that are able to withstand harsh underground conditions, then characterise their response under calibrated stress-controlled tests, and finally verify the ability of the developed sensors to provide in situ, accurate dynamic information, and warning signs on the development of geotechnical failures. Prospective candidates for this PhD position are expected to possess a robust background in electronics and experimental mechanics, coupled with a keen interest in geomechanics. This project represents a thrilling opportunity to contribute significantly to industry capabilities.

The second project will advance those pressure sensors for soft underground robotics. In the first year the student will develop several prototypes at the University of Sydney (USyd) for different shapes of robotic heads and functionalities. Over the second year they will visit Dr Barbara Mazzolai’s group at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) to implement those sensors on robots inspired by worms and roots. Back at USyd on the third year, they will bring together the sensing and locomotion of the robots to explore burrowing dynamics in USyd’s fast x-ray facility. The recruited PhD student will be expected to have strong background in electronics and/or robotics and/or geomechanics. This is an exciting opportunity to actively contribute to international, multi-disciplinary collaboration.

For applications, please email your curriculum vitae, as well as the transcripts of your bachelor’s and master’s degrees. We aim to review applications by mid-February 2024.

Contact details:

Professor Itai Einav,
Director of SciGEM,
School of Civil Engineering,
The University of Sydney
Email: itai.einav@sydney.edu.au

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are extremely persistent, harmful chemicals that have a complex transport behaviour in the environment. To assess risks associated with PFAS migration and the effects of remediation measures at contaminated hotspots, there is a great need for improved process understanding as well as modelling tools to predict PFAS transport in soil-groundwater systems. A promising technique to limit the spreading of PFAS further into the environment and to drinking-water resources is in-situ stabilisation with activated carbon.

In a larger Swedish project about mitigation of PFAS contamination, soil mixing and direct injection of activated carbon for in-situ stabilisation of PFAS are tested at contaminated sites and thereby large datasets of PFAS distribution in space and time including the effects of in-situ stabilization are generated. Modelling of the transport and adsorption processes is an important component for the interpretation and analysis of the results and their implications. However, existing modelling tools for PFAS fate and transport have not been thoroughly tested (in particular, against field data) and are in need of further development with respect to several PFAS-specific processes, such as; adsorption to air-water interfaces in the unsaturated zone, transformation of precursors and competition effects between different PFAS both concerning sorption to material interfaces and to sorbents.

The postdoctor to be employed will work with evaluation and development of modelling tools aimed to better understand the fate and transport of PFAS in the subsurface, and in particular, how this is affected by in-situ stabilisation. Modelling tools that can be relevant include among others MODFLOW-based solute-transport models, Hydrus, COMSOL, TOUGH2 or similar programs. The work will be performed under supervision of Prof. Fritjof Fagerlund at UU and is also a close collaboration with the Swedish Geotechnical Institute (SGI) and Geological Survey (SGU), where researchers at SGI also participate.

Link to full information and application: https://www.jobb.uu.se/details/?positionId=691961

Contact / questions, e-mail: fritjof.fagerlund@geo.uu.se

At the DMEX center for X-ray Imaging in Pau, France, we apply X-ray imaging to study a plethora of things. Recently, we have received support from Institut Carnot ISIFoR to hire two postdocs:
– One relates to the in situ recovery of Lithium and explores strategies to reduce the water consumption
– The second one, in collaboration with Carnot IFPEN, aims at developing a methodology for estimating the amount of natural hydrogen present in the North American intracratonic zone.

Both projects involve advanced X-ray tomography methods: in situ 4D CT in the first and spectral CT in the second project.

You can download the job offers here:
– Lithium Recovery : french or english
– ExploH2 : french or english

The Chair of Alpine Mass Movements at ETH Zürich and SLF Davos offers a 4-year PhD position about the numerical modeling of the initiation and dynamics of Alpine Mass Movements with a depth-averaged Material Point Method. More information about the project, position and expected background can be found in this link: https://jobs.ethz.ch/job/view/JOPG_ethz_LiRmcYKHdI71vDGZLI

For questions, please contact Prof. J. Gaume (jgaume@ethz.ch).

A PhD Studentship opportunity is available at University of Southampton on “Efficient ‘Whole-life’ anchoring systems for offshore floating renewables”.

This PhD offers you the opportunity to tackle the urgent real-world challenge of developing efficient deep water anchoring systems for offshore floating renewable energy infrastructure. You will also have the opportunity to work as part of a vibrant research group focussed on a range of offshore engineering challenges and engage with a range of industry partners.

More information on the pdf file.

The Institute of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (Institut für Geomechanik und Geotechnik, IGG) at TU Braunschweig (Technische Universität Braunschweig) is looking for 3 PhD candidates and 1 postdoctoral researcher/senior engineer to support the team of the freshly appointed professor, Marius Milatz, starting from April 1, 2024. Based on the IGG’s experience in the fields of geotechnical measurements, onshore and offshore geotechnics, underground space construction, and deep geological nuclear waste repositories, the institute will be reordered with a research focus on experimental and numerical geomechanics in the fields of fundamental soil behaviour from micro to macro, of soil-water-structure interactions and tool-soil interactions in mechanised tunnelling. We focus on all kinds of geomaterials, including fine grained and granular soils, rock as well as other technical building materials, in the dry, unsaturated, and saturated state. A vision is to give traditional soil and geomechanics a taste of materials science by looking into various physical phenomena, processes and interactions and by applying interdisciplinary research methods. Key methods to be used in our research will be in situ CT-experiments (3D and “4D” computed tomography imaging) along with a quantitative image-based analysis of soil behaviour and the design and testing of new geomechanical lab experiments. Furthermore, we focus on the development and application of numerical modelling techniques bridging length scales from the grain and pore scale to the macro scale using different continuum methods, particle based and CFD based methods.

The application deadline of this call is March 10, 2024. Further information on the advertised positions as well as contact data for questions and application are given in the following links to the individual positions:
– Postdoc/senior engineer position
– PhD position 1
– PhD position 2
– PhD position 3

We are thrilled to announce the “POSEIDON” project under the EU Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. This ambitious project has opened 13 Ph.D. positions for aspiring researchers. Funded by Horizon Europe (HORIZON) through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks (MSCA-DN), POSEIDON unites 16 partners from seven European countries, including The Netherlands, Germany, France, Norway, Denmark, Italy, and the UK.

Our consortium includes esteemed universities and industry partners, offering a rich environment for multidisciplinary and multisectoral research. We aim to address challenges in the design and resilience of Offshore Critical Infrastructures (OCIs) like wind turbines, submarine pipelines, and cables, especially in the context of climate change.

The project seeks to nurture 13 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) who will lead the way in identifying, assessing, and mitigating offshore geohazards. This initiative is not just about advancing academic knowledge; it’s about shaping the future of offshore infrastructure resilience.

For more detailed information about the Ph.D. positions and specific objectives, please refer to the attached PDF or visit the POSEIDON webpage.