PhD position in structural concrete at TU Delft

Dear all,

There is a vacancy at the TU Delft for a position of PhD cantidate in the field of sustainable structural concrete. Full add is available at: https://www.tudelft.nl/over-tu-delft/werken-bij-tu-delft/vacatures/detai...

In this project you are expected to work in a large EU consortium AshCycle which deals with integration of underutilized ashes into material cycles by industry-urban symbiosis. The incineration of biomass, municipal solid waste and sewage sludge produces significant quantities of ashes in the EU: approximately 25 million tons annually. These residues have currently no use or they are utilized only in low-value applications. Major problems with the use of incineration residues in the construction, water treatment, and other industries are insufficient public awareness of the safety and environmental acceptability of the final products , the lack of uniform regulations, and readiness of the market to accept incineration residues as a supplementary material. The project AshCycle with 28 European partners will demonstrate and implement industry urban symbioses revolving around the underutilized ashes to reach circular and climate neutral economy in Europe. Pilots and replication demonstrations will be carried out in Denmark, Finland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland, and South Africa.

We seek for a PhD candidate to work on the structural behavior of ash-based OPC and alkali-activated reinforced concrete. Novel construction materials developed within the whole project will be investigated under different type of mechanical and imposed deformation loadings in order to understand their fracture behavior and bearing capacity over time. Based on the results, a generic model will be developed with the aim to unravel the mechanisms and to derive calculation models and design guidelines for the bond as well as for flexure and shear behavior of  ash-based OPC and alkali activated reinforced concrete elements.

Requirements

Our ideal candidate has a clear and unambiguous ambition towards a sustainable future for the built environment. You are expected to have scientific creativity and broad-knowledge of Engineering. More specificially, you are required to have:

• A Master's degree in a relevant field, i.e., Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering.
• Ability to interact and carry out research with close collaboration with community and partners in EU project
• Ability to work both in a project team, but also independently and take leadership and responsibility for research tasks
• Excellent communication skills in English, both written and oral.

Conditions of employment

Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1,5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2,5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from € 2443 per month in the first year to € 3122 in the fourth year. As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

Additional information

For more information about this vacancy, please contact Dr. Mladena Lukovic, email:  m.lukovic@tudelft.nl. If you would like more information about the application procedure, please contact recruitment-citg@tudelft.nl.