PhD Student – Department of Structural Engineering and Building Materials

29 Nov 2023
Job Information
Organisation/Company
Ghent University
Research Field
Engineering » Materials engineering
Computer science » Other
Engineering » Other
Researcher Profile
First Stage Researcher (R1)
Country
Belgium
Application Deadline
31 Jan 2024 – 22:59 (UTC)
Type of Contract
Temporary
Job Status
Full-time
Hours Per Week
38
Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?
Not funded by an EU programme
Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?
No

Offer Description

Last application date Jan 31, :00

Department TW14 – Department of Structural Engineering and Building Materials

Contract Limited duration

Degree Master in Fire Safety Engineering; Master in Structural Engineering, or related field; Master in Engineering field relevant to the proposal

Occupancy rate 100%

Vacancy type Research staff

Job description

The project "AFireTest" is a 1.5 million EUR project funded by the European Research Council (ERC), which started in September 2023. Over a total period of 5 years, 3 PhD researchers and 2 post-doc researchers will jointly develop the next generation of fire testing. Current fire testing is based on standardized tests which do not provide in-depth understanding of material behavior and the impact of design choices on the fire risk in buildings. Within the new concept of fire testing (Adaptive Fire Testing), test specifications will be set with a specific goal of maximizing the net information gained from the test, taking into account (i) the current state of knowledge; (ii) the goal of the assessment (e.g., material understanding vs building risk evaluation); and (iii) the costs of performing the test (including environmental costs).

For more information on the project, see the EU announcement:
,
and this podcast episode of the Fire Science Show: .

The PhD position will focus on "Physics-based surrogate modelling for fire safety applications". Physics-based surrogate modelling is sometimes also referred to as grey or hybrid machine learning. This PhD research is envisioned to result in a breakthrough in the application of machine learning methods to fire engineering problems, by ensuring compatibility with physical constraints.

Job profile

As a PhD researcher within AFireTest you will collaborate within the larger AFireTest and teams. The Structural Fire Engineering team (; ) is a dynamic and established research group within the Fire Safety Science and Engineering research cluster at Ghent University (Belgium), focusing on structural fire engineering and the application of probabilistic methods.

Applicants for this PhD position should have experience with (or should demonstrate the capability to learn): (i) fire safety science and engineering; (ii) machine learning.

Funding is for 4 years (1+3), with the obtainment of a PhD degree foreseen. Your earnings correspond with a full wage for an early-career researcher (in Flanders, early-researcher wages are competitive with industry wages for engineers; the wages are fixed for all researchers and automatically increase with inflation), you will receive dedicated training at Ghent University, and a generous package of annual leave (36 days), and other benefits. Whenever applicable, a tax reduction scheme for promising young researchers and post-docs will be applied.

How to apply

Applications to be sent by mail to .

Your full application should include:

• Full CV
• Transcript of records (translated in English, if the original is not in Dutch or English)
• Motivation letter
• 2 recommendation letters
• 2 references (previous supervisors or lecturers who can be contacted to elaborate on their experiences working with you)
• Language certificate / IELTS score

All communication should be in English.

Requirements

Research Field
Engineering
Years of Research Experience
1 – 4

Research Field
Computer science
Years of Research Experience
1 – 4

Research Field
Engineering
Years of Research Experience
1 – 4

Additional Information

Website for additional job details

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available
1
Company/Institute
Ghent University
Country
Belgium
City
Ghent
Postal Code
9000
Street
Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 33

Where to apply

Website

Contact

City
Ghent
Website

Postal Code
9000

STATUS: EXPIRED

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