Department of Mechanics: Vacancies: UCEEB Postdocs

Announcement

The Czech Technical University in Prague - University Center for Energy Efficient Buildings (UCEEB) offers two post-doctoral positions in the field of modeling, simulation, assessment and optimization of multi-functional materials and structures.

Start date: as soon as possible after 29 September 2014
Contract duration: until 30 June 2015

UCEEB in brief

Launched in October 2012, UCEEB is a newly established joint project of five faculties of the Czech Technical University in Prague. The mission of the Center is to perform high-level interdisciplinary research in the field of energy savings in buildings, utilizing a simulation- based engineering approach. The theoretical research activities will be systematically complemented with experimental validation, performed in a full-scale setting. This will provide unique data on materials, structures, and systems of intelligent control, including on their impact on the built and natural environment. Development of the Center is supported by the European Union through the Operational Program Research and Development for Innovations, project No. CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0091.

Project organization

The present project integrates four different topics aligned with the research activities of UCEEB. Each topic will be supervised by a mentor from the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague, with long-term experience in the relevant fields of research. The project is supported by the European Union, through the Operational Program Research and Development for Innovations, project No. CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0034.

The mentors involved in the project include:

• Vít Šmilauer (associate professor, Department of Mechanics, smilauer@cml.fsv.cvut.cz), whose expertise lies in numerical mechanics, multiscale modeling and alkali-activated fly ash systems.

Research topics

Advanced fly ash cementitious composites

Mentor: Vít Šmilauer

Description: Fly ash is a waste material from thermally powered coal power plants. Czech republic and China have one of the highest fly ash/cement ratio. Applied research is needed to sustain increasing pressure on fly ash utilization. Coal co-combustion with organic materials is another challenging task to emerge. There is no single miracle solution for fly ash utilization but the most promising in terms of volume seems to be direct incorporation into concrete to form advanced cementitious materials. High volume fly ash concrete has been studied for decades showing utilization potential of fly ash, ways for improvement and pitfalls. In the majority of cases, no fly ash preprocessing exists in the form of grinding or particle separation. This open new ways for research and experiments. Experimental part needs to be supported with simulations which quantify fly ash reactivity, depletion of capillary porosity, pozzolanic reaction, packing density, and evolution of compressive strength. Multiscale simulations provide suitable framework to address various phenomena in such multiscale concrete material. Virtual simulations should give directions of interesting areas and also to help reducing the amount of time-consuming experiments.

Specific requirements: Cement chemistry, experience with concrete, experimental background, basic programming skills (in C/C++, Python, MATLAB or similar languages), background in simulations.

General requirements

We are looking for candidates who

• hold a Ph.D. degree (or equivalent) in the research area related to the selected topic dated from 29 March 2008 or later,
• have an ability to perform independent research with a strong emphasis on publications in refereed journals,
• possess excellent communication skills and written/verbal knowledge of the English language.

We offer

• the possibility to work in a newly established dynamic and ambitious research center with the state-of-the art equipment,
• a contract with a duration until 30 June 2015,
• a gross salary of 56,000 CZK per month (approximately 2,050 Euro or 2,800 USD; the average gross salary in the Czech Republic is about 900 Euro),
• a partial coverage of the mandatory social and medical insurance by the employer (the employee has to contribute 6.5% of the gross salary to pension insurance, 4.5% to health insurance and, according to the currently valid legislation, approximately 16.5% is deduced as income tax),
• the coverage of travel expenses of up to 55,000 CZK per year,
• the coverage of operating costs of up to 40,000 CZK per year,
• a three-month internship at a foreign university or a company.

Application

For more information, please contact the mentor using the e-mail address specified above.

Interested candidates are invited to send their applications directly to the relevant mentor no later than 26 September 2014. The application must contain

• a Curriculum Vitae (one page),
• a motivation letter (two pages), stating personal goals and research interests in relation to the research topic,
• a detailed list of publications,
• two letters of recommendation sent by the referees directly to the mentor (with detailed contact information: email, telephone number and address), one of them written by the previous supervisor,
• a certificate of proficiency in English (CAE, TOEFL or equivalent) or an electronic copy of the candidate’s Ph.D. thesis written in English.

Both national and international applications to this advertisement are welcome. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until all the positions are filled. Promising candidates will be contacted by e-mail, and may be invited for an on-line interview.

Important dates

• 26 September 2014, 24:00: Deadline for application submissions,
• 27 September 2014: Review of applications, promising candidates will be contacted by e-mail,
• 29 September 2014: Final selection of the candidates by the selection committee.

Evaluation criteria

• Publications in refereed journals (50%),
• Assessment of the mentor (25%),
• Quality of the motivation letter (25%).