Postdoc in Cross-Shore Sediment and Particle Transport Processes

Applications are invited for a 3-year Postdoc position, ideally starting in November 2025 within the general field of coastal engineering at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, section for Fluid Mechanics, Coastal and Maritime Engineering (FVM).

The position will play an integral part of the project “SHORE: Simulating coastal HydrOdynamics and particle tRansport procEsses”, financed by the European Research Council. The SHORE project is briefly described below:

Beaches are eroding at many locations around the world, and, with the pending climate change (sea level rise and increased storminess in Northern Europe), coastal erosion is expected to potentially worsen. State-of-the-art practical engineering models for predicting sand and particle transport struggle with the cross-shore processes (perpendicular to the beach), and they even have difficulties predicting the sign right (offshore transport vs. onshore transport), in an experimental setting where the boundary conditions are fully known. The shortage of state-of-the-art models also means that the spreading of microplastic particles, which are increasingly polluting the oceans cannot be predicted accurately. As a result, the future shape of the world’s coastal profiles and the fate of microplastic particles in the coastal region are largely unknown.  SHORE aims to bridge this knowledge and competence gap and develop the first model capable of accurately simulating both on and offshore transport of sediments and microplastic particles without case-specific calibration.

The project will also involve collaboration between DTU, Utrecht University, Aberdeen University and Twente University. An external research stay at Aberdeen University to conduct experiments is expected.

Responsibilities and tasks

The overall focus of the postdoc is to develop understanding of and relatively simple models/empirical relations for cross-shore sediment and particle transport processes. 

Two experimental campaigns are planned to improve the understanding of cross-shore transport of microplastic particles. You will be leading these to campaigns. Additionally, you will lead the development of simple models for cross-shore sediment transport predictions. These models will be based on an extensive experimental database containing historical experimental results (to be collected within the project). 

You will work together with other researchers involved in the project as well as with international academic and industrial collaborators. 

Key tasks involve: 

• Planning, executing and analysing results from an experimental campaign in DTU’s wave flumes
• Planning, executing and analysing results from an experimental campaign in the oscillatory flow tunnel at the University of Aberdeen
• Assembling a large database containing historical experimental results of cross-shore sediment and particle transport processes
• Development of a novel model for short wave particle and sediment transport
• Development of a novel model for suspended sediment
• Dissemination of research findings in scientific journals and international conferences
• Release of the developed models open source for public usage
• Team meetings with other members of the SHORE project
• Co-supervision of MSc. Projects related to the project 

Application procedure 

To apply, please read the full job advertisement by clicking the 'Apply' button

Further information may be obtained from Senior Researcher Bjarke Eltard Larsen, email: bjelt@dtu.dk.

Advert information