Within the faculty of Engineering Technology, the department Civil Engineering and Management (CEM) is looking for a highly motivated and enthusiastic Assistant Professor to join our group. Do you have a real passion for geomechanics?
The group of Construction Management & Engineering (CME) of the Department of Civil Engineering and Management (CEM), develops and teaches new process approaches, methods and technologies to improve integration and innovation in the construction industry and to enrich infrastructure asset management.
Within CME, the new chair of Soil Micromechanics combines fundamental soil mechanics and applied research, with focus on the development of novel, smart technologies for optimization of construction (earth) materials and processes.

The challenge
Civil engineering disciplines are nowadays called to the development of fundamental knowledge towards sustainable, efficient, and resilient solutions, to face environmental and anthropic fast modifications. In the case of soils, these may result in severe alteration of material characteristics and unpredictable mechanical responses. Similarly, temporary or permanent construction works (related for example to interventions for energy transition or increasing land use) often impact soil properties and geotechnical infrastructure integrity. In order to face the challenges and propose solutions, there is an urgent need for a deep understanding of the soil behavior and its underlying multiscale mechanisms. Research must focus on the multiple scales and components that form soils, along with modern multiscale techniques to unravel their interactions.

• You have research interests related to the multi-scale and multi-phase modelling of soils. Within these wide areas, specific topics include but are not limited to: fluid-particle interaction to describe saturated/unsaturated soils; hydro-chemo-electrical effects governing micro-macro behavior of clays; micro-mechanical based elastic-plastic constitutive models; material uncertainty across scales and phases. The use of advanced investigation techniques (e.g. computational tools, probabilistic methods, Machine Learning, experimental micromechanics) is encouraged.
• The micromechanics will guide the development of original solutions applied to material characterization, long-term prediction, risk assessment and the development of mitigation/improvement measures (SMART soils).
• You will develop an innovative and multidisciplinary research program of international standing. You will be working in the new chair of Soil Micromechanics, strengthen the current research activities of CME and collaborate closely with our colleagues of the Multiscale Mechanics group. We value a supportive, collaborative and ambitious spirit between the departments.
• You are expected to attract research funding by writing and executing research projects and coordinate collaborations with colleagues and external parties.
• Supervising PhD, PDEng and postdoctoral researchers will be part of your duties.

Are you ready to take on this challenge and join our team?

• You have obtained a PhD degree in Civil Engineering or related discipline, such or geo-physics, mechanical engineering or related areas, with strong expertise in soil mechanics.
• You can demonstrate outstanding research potential and play (or will play) a leading role in the international scientific community.
• You enjoy exploring and developing new paths, specifically you have an interest toward new technologies for geomechanical applications.
• You show a vision on modern education, including inderdisciplinary teaching ideas.
• You have experience in writing, will initiate and execute research projects, and also coordinate research collaborations.
• You love working in a multidisciplinary team in which fundamental and applied research cross-fertilize.
• Furthermore, an appropriate qualification in the English Language, the willingness to learn Dutch and excellent communication and organizational skills are required.

INFORMATION AND APPLICATION

You are welcome to contact Dr. V. Magnanimo for any questions you might have, email v.magnanimo@utwente.nl or phone +31534895363.

Please upload your application, via the ‘Apply now’ button.

Your application should consist of:

• A cover letter (maximum 1 page A4), emphasizing your specific interest, qualifications and motivations to apply for this position;
• Personal research and teaching statement (maximum 1 page A4 for each statement);
• A full Curriculum Vitae including your publications, awards, and working experience. The CV should reflect the scope of your work and your academic performance;
• Contact details of three persons who can provide references.

The application deadline is 15 April 2020. Since only three documents can be uploaded per application, please combine documents if needed.
For a balanced gender composition of our group we specific invite female candidates to apply.

• An international work environment, with colleagues from many different countries from all over the world.
• Excellent research facilities.
• A gross salary between € 3.637,00 - € 5.656,00 per month, depending on experience and qualifications.
• A holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.
• A solid pension scheme.
• A minimum of 29 holidays in case of fulltime employment.
• Possibilities to save up holidays for sabbatical leave.
• Professional and personal development programs.

• A start-up package.

You will be appointed for two years, with the prospect of a permanent position after a positive evaluation. The university offers a dynamic ecosystem with enthusiastic colleagues in which internationalization is an important part of the strategic agenda.

The University of Twente. We stand for life sciences and technology. High tech and human touch. Education and research that matter. New technology which leads change, innovation and progress in society. The University of Twente is the only campus university of the Netherlands; divided over five faculties we provide more than fifty educational programmes. We have a strong focus on personal development and talented researchers are given scope for carrying out groundbreaking research.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status. Because of our diversity values we do particularly support women to apply.

The Faculty of Engineering Technology (ET) is one of the five faculties of the University of Twente. ET combines Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Industrial Design Engineering. Our faculty has approximately 1800 bachelor and master students, 400 employees and 150 PhD candidates. The departments of the faculty cooperatively conduct the educational programmes and participate in interdisciplinary research projects, programmes and the research institutes: Mesa+ Institute, TechMed Centra and Digital Society Institute.