Aalto University is a community of bold thinkers in which science and art meet technology and business. We are committed to identifying and solving grand societal challenges and building an innovative future. Aalto University has six schools with 12 000 students and nearly 400 professors. Our campuses are in Espoo, Finland.

The School of Engineering is an international unit with nearly 70 talented professors and 3400 full-time students. Currently, the Department of Civil Engineering has 20 professors together with lecturers, staff scientist, post-doctoral researchers, doctoral students, and technical staff. In total, the number of departmental personnel is over 100.

The Department of Civil Engineering is looking for a full-time Doctoral Researcher in Computational Structural Mechanics.

We seek a highly qualified, talented and motivated individual, with an enthusiastic attitude towards high-quality research, to work on next generation structural materials made of super-engineered wood (within a SUPERWOOD consortium). This two-party consortium (between Department of Civil Engineering and Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems) comprises of two supplementing projects. The research activities of the candidate will focus on the development of data-driven and physics-informed design methodology combining computational (mainly finite element) and machine learning methods. The present position is fully funded by a Research Council of Finland project led by Assistant Professor Sergei Khakalo (https://research.fi/en/results/funding/81409).

Requirements

By the time of recruitment, at latest in September 2024, the selected candidate should have a master’s degree in a related field obtained within the last three years: e.g., civil engineering, mechanical engineering or applied mathematics.

The candidate should have excellent grades from the bachelor and master level courses in mathematics and mechanics as well as appropriate skills in programming and finite element analysis.

Proficiency in written and spoken English are required as well. Experience in co-authoring scientific articles in high-quality journals is not a necessary requirement but an advantage.

For the candidate qualified for the position, an official application process for doctoral studies will be accomplished. Hence, before submitting his/her application the candidate should ensure that the corresponding formal requirements are fulfilled:
https://www.aalto.fi/en/study-options/aalto-doctoral-programme-in-engineering#12-eligibility

What we offer

Aalto University offers excellent learning and development opportunities, provides an inspiring and supportive working environment, and a diverse professional community to work with. By joining our group, you would get the possibility to develop multidisciplinary research skills and be engaged in collaboration with other research groups in Aalto and abroad. Traveling with research visits to leading research groups outside Finland will provide knowledge and experience exchange and help to establish long-term international relationships.

Besides conducting high-quality scientific research, you will also get a unique opportunity to develop your supervising and teaching skills, e.g., by instructing graduate and undergraduate students as well as acting as a teaching assistant for some of the department courses.

The doctoral studies at Aalto University take approximately four years. The candidate will be offered a two-year contract with a two-year extension after passing the midterm review (https://www.aalto.fi/en/programmes/aalto-doctoral-programme-in-engineering/midterm-review-of-doctoral-studies-eng). The annual total workload of research and teaching staff at Aalto University is 1612 hours. The starting (gross) salary for the position is about 2700 €/month and will increase with responsibilities and performance over time. The employment contract includes occupational health care, and Finland has a comprehensive social security system.

How to apply

To apply for the position, please submit your application electronically through our online recruitment system via the 'Apply now!' link below.

The required documents are the following:

• Motivation letter - including contact information (max. 1 page)
• Curriculum Vitae - including publications if any and contact information for at least one reference (max. 2 pages)
• Master’s degree certificate - including a translation to English (if the originals are not in English, Finnish or Swedish)
• Transcripts of records - including both bachelor and master level studies
• Description of MSc thesis project (max. 1 page)

These documents (written in English) must be combined, in the given order, into a single pdf file (named ‘lastname_firstname_application.pdf’) and attached to the online application. The submission deadline is September 22, 2024, at 23:59 Finnish time. Position will be filled as soon as a suitable candidate is identified.

Aalto University reserves the right for justified reasons to leave the position open, to extend the application period, reopen the application process, and to consider candidates who have not submitted applications during the application period.

Note: Aalto University’s employees and visitors should apply for the position via the internal HR system Workday (Internal Jobs -> Find Jobs) by using their existing Workday user account (not via the external webpage for open positions).

For more information

For additional information, please contact Assistant Professor Sergei Khakalo via email (sergei.khakalo@aalto.fi) with the subject “PhD position in Computational Structural Mechanics”. In questions related to the recruitment process, please contact our HR unit via hr-eng@aalto.fi.

More about living in Finland: https://www.aalto.fi/en/careers-at-aalto/living-in-finland

More about Aalto University:
Aalto.fi
youtube.com/user/aaltouniversity
linkedin.com/school/aalto-university/
www.facebook.com/aaltouniversity
instagram.com/aaltouniversity
twitter.com/aaltouniversity