Job Position | Doctoral Student

A call is open to award one research grant to develop research activities within the I&D Project INTENT – Intelligent health monitoring of road infrastructures using bender elements embedded in pavements, 2022.06879.PTDC, funded by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT). The recipient is expected to conduct research in the field of Computational Geomechanics at the Lusófona University in Lisbon and the Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon.

The grant holder has the option to register for a PhD program.

Responsibilities

1) Development of hybrid-Trefftz finite element models for transient wave propagation in geomaterials;
2) Development of fatigue degradation models for pavements;
3) Development of machine learning algorithms for damage detection;
4) Development of a toolbox for the automatic data acquisition and interpretation, damage progression forecast and early warning system for pavements.

Qualifications

Master (MSc) in one of the following areas (or equivalent): Civil Engineering or Transportation Engineering or Geotechnical Engineering or Structural Engineering. Fluent in written and spoken English. The classifications of the candidates at the Undergraduate (U) level and at the Master (M) level should be such that 0.6*U + 0.4*M >= 14, on a 0 to 20 scale. At least the MSc classification must be recognised by the Portuguese Authorities*. Evidence of prior scientific experience is an advantage.

*If the candidate does not already have the MSc degree recognized in Portugal, a fast-track recognition is possible for candidates with MSc degrees granted by Universities from the European Union, as well as the following countries: Andorra, Brazil (only degrees classified by CAPES with conceito equal or superior to 5), Moldova, Norway, Russia Federation, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom. More details can be found here: https://www.dges.gov.pt/en/pagina/degree-and-diploma-recognition

Applicable legislation and regulations

Regulation of the research grants of the FCT (https://former.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/regulamento2012.phtml.en)

Work place

The main research work will be developed at the Faculty of Engineering of the Lusófona University, under the scientific supervision of Professors Ionut Moldovan and Elói Figueiredo, and University of Lisbon, under the scientific supervision of Professor José Neves.

Duration of the Grant

The grant will have the duration of 12 months, beginning on June 1st, 2023, with yearly extensions up to a maximum of 36 months.

Monthly salary

The yearly salary will be €16,135.68. The net monthly salary amounts to €1,344.64 (net salary €1,144.64).

Selection criteria

The selection methods will be the following:

• 50% for the final grade of the course, calculated according to the formula 0.6*U + 0.4*M, where U and M represent the classifications of the candidates at the Undergraduate and Master levels, respectively (for integrated Master (MI) the formula is 1*MI);
• 20% for publications (5 points for ISI journals, 2 points for non-ISI journals, 1 point for international conferences, 0.5 points for national conferences);
• 30% for the interview. Preference factors: Interest in following up with a PhD program, experience in numerical modelling in Geomechanics and basic knowledge of experimental Geomechanics. Only the first three eligible candidates (considering the previous two criteria) will be invited to the interview.

In the event that the candidates do not have the appropriate profile for the proposed functions, the jury reserves the right to close the competition without any recruitment.

Application period and structure of the application

Applications are welcomed until April, 20th, 2023.
Applications must be made through an application letter together with the following documents: Curriculum Vitae, certificates of graduation degrees and other documents considered relevant by the candidate.
Applications should be submitted by email to dragos.moldovan@ulusofona.pt

Further details

Further details regarding the call can be found at this link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T41xxVBbvPhzb2V5yJ6hMJMrr6-2xChF/view?usp=share_link