Research Associate in Computational Geomechanics

About the role:

Applications are encouraged for a Research Associate position to work within the project: “Towards Safe Geological Disposal of Radioactive Waste in Low-Strength Sedimentary Rocks (GeoSafe)”. The research conducted will investigate the damage to the surrounding rocks due to the construction and operation of an underground geological disposal facility for radioactive waste, and the implications of this damage for the subsurface flow of fluids and the transport of radionuclides. The work will make extensive use of the Imperial College Geomechanics Toolkit (ICGT), a finite-element based computational software package written in C++.

What you would be doing:

You will simulate coupled hydro-thermo-mechanical processes that may be expected to occur in low-strength sedimentary rocks (LSSR) in the vicinity of a geological disposal facility for radioactive waste. You will also analyse and model laboratory experiments on these LSSR rocks, that are being conducted at other participating research institutions within the GeoSafe project.

You will work under the direction of Prof. Robert Zimmerman FREng and Dr Adriana Paluszny, and in collaboration with other researchers within the GeoSafe project, both at Imperial and at our partner institutions. You will be expected to present your findings to colleagues at project meetings and at conferences, and to write papers for submission to scientific journals.

What we are looking for someone who:

• Holds a PhD in Earth Science, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related discipline.

• Has experience in finite element modelling of coupled hydro-thermo-mechanical processes in geological media.

• Has knowledge of the C++ programming language.

• Has excellent verbal and written communication skills, and the ability to deal with a wide range of people.

• Has the ability to organise their own work, with minimal supervision.

What we can offer you:

• Professional development opportunities, including publishing in leading journals, and presenting at international conferences.

• Access to a sector-leading salary and benefits package, extensive training programs, and career development resources to support your professional goals.

• The opportunity to continue your career at a world-leading institution.

• Sector-leading salary and remuneration package (including 38 days off each year)

Further Information

This is a full-time, fixed-term post for up to 24 months.

For informal enquiries and information about the post, please contact Prof. Robert Zimmerman (r.zimmerman@imperial.ac.uk)  or Dr Adriana Paluszny (apaluszn@imperial.ac.uk).   

Queries regarding the application process should be directed to Katie Rycraft (k.rycraft@imperial.ac.uk).  

Full information about the post is available in the job description. 

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