PhD Fellow in Concrete technology and durability of sustainable concrete types

Espen Eidum
22nd February 2023
Languages
English

• English

English

Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology

PhD Fellow in Concrete technology and durability of sustainable concrete types
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The position

A PhD position is available at the Department of Building, Energy and Material Technology , Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology .

The position will be affiliated with the Department of Building, Energy and Material Technology, and the PhD candidate will be part of the DeTeA "Building Materials: design-testing-application" research group within the department. The department is responsible for various study programs related to building technology, as well as renewable energy, and the number of students is approximately 400. The department organizes most research activities under research groups. The research group activities are aligned with UiT strategy, which is focused on sustainability and climate change mitigation and further to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The position is for a period of four years. The nominal length of the PhD programme is three years. The fourth year is distributed as 25 % each year and will consist of teaching and other duties. The objective of the position is to complete research training to the level of a doctoral degree. Admission to the PhD programme is a prerequisite for employment, and the programme period starts on commencement of the position.

The workplace is at UiT in Narvik. You must be able to start in the position within a reasonable time after receiving the offer.

The position’s field of research/research project and other duties

The building industry and especially the concrete production sector is undergoing significant changes in order to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and global approach towards zero emission and sustainable development of industry and society. Concrete, as the main building material, is connected to noticeable CO2 emissions from the production of Portland cement (main binder material for concrete) and consumption of natural resources (approx. 70% of concrete is constituted by aggregates). In order to reduce concrete negative carbon footprint, innovations such as replacement of Portland cement by supplementary cementitious materials or natural aggregates by recycled concrete aggregates are promoted. Use of those materials is connected to changes of concrete performance and therefore it is important to ensure quality by testing. The most impacted properties are reduction of early age strength and durability which is of high importance in the arctic region/Northern Norway.

Based on the present research projects and sustainable trends, UiT, campus Narvik, located in the harbour city, decided to establish a long-term durability testing station. The station is going to be located in Narvik harbour mainly used by LKAB for iron ore transportation.

The main objectives of PhD will be:

• Analysis of existing long-term durability facilities elsewhere
• Selection of monitored properties and techniques
• Design of sample format (shape, placement, instrumentation, measuring device installation)
• Mechanical damage and wear resistance due to wave impact monitoring
• Preparation of samples from various research projects led by UiT, and their placement in the long-term durability station. Initiation of monitoring
• Test plan for monitoring and result recording/collection/processing/presentation

Parallel to the proposed PhD on the long-term durability of concrete, accelerated durability analysis on concrete samples placed in a long-term durability station will be carried out by other researchers at UiT, campus Narvik.

The applicants must present a description outlining the academic basis of the PhD project. The project description shall not exceed 5 pages, literature references included. It must include a description of the theme, research question(s) and a reasoning of the choices. It should also indicate the methodologies to be used. The final project description will be developed in cooperation with the supervisor.

Contact

For further information about the position, please contact DeTeA research group leader Iveta Novakova: 

• phone: +47 76966120
• email: [email protected]

or Head of Department Raymond Riise:

• email: [email protected]

Qualifications

This position requires a master’s degree or equivalent in a relevant field. It is considered an advantage to have a bachelor’s degree in Civil, Chemical, Material, Mechanical or Building Services engineering, and a Masters’s degree in engineering in a field relevant to the theme of the open PhD position.  If you are near completion of your master’s degree, you may still apply.

Applicants must document fluency of in English and be able to work in an international environment. Nordic applicants can document their English capabilities by attaching their high school diploma.  Working knowledge of Norwegian or a Scandinavian language and familiarity with the arctic condition is also beneficial.

In the assessment, the emphasis is on the applicant's potential to complete a research education based on the master's thesis or equivalent, and any other scientific work. The project description will also be considered. In addition, other experience of significance for the completion of the doctoral programme may be given consideration.

We will also emphasize motivation and personal suitability for the position. We are looking for candidates who:

• Have good collaboration skills
• Have good communication and interaction with colleagues and students
• Wants to contribute to a good working environment

As many as possible should have the opportunity to undertake organized research training. If you already hold a PhD or have equivalent competence, we will not appoint you to this position.

Admission to the PhD programme 

For employment in the PhD position, you must be qualified for admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology  and participate in organized doctoral studies within the employment period.

Admission normally requires:  

• A bachelor's degree of 180 ECTS and a master's degree of 120 ECTS, or an integrated master's degree of 300 ECTS. 
• A master's thesis with a scope corresponding to at least 30 ECTS for a master's degree of 120 ECTS. 
• A master's thesis with a scope corresponding to at least 20 ECTS for an integrated master's degree of 300 ECTS. 

In order to gain admission to the programme, applicants with a background from a Norwegian institution should have a minimum grade of C on their master thesis and a weighted grade average of 3.0 for the last two years of their master programme. A more detailed description of admission requirements can be found here . 

Applicants with a foreign education will be subjected to an evaluation of whether the educational background is equal to Norwegian higher education, following national guidelines from NOKUT . Depending on which country the education is from, one or two additional years of university education may be required to fulfil admission requirements, e.g. a 4-year bachelor's degree and a 2-year master's degree. 

If you are employed in the position, you will be provisionally admitted to the PhD programme. Application for final admission must be submitted no later than two months after taking up the position. 

Inclusion and diversity

UiT The Arctic University of Norway is working actively to promote equality, gender balance and diversity among employees and students, and to create an inclusive and safe working environment. We believe that inclusion and diversity are a strength and we want employees with different competencies, professional experience, life experience and perspectives.

If you have a disability, a gap in your CV or immigrant background, we encourage you to tick the box for this in your application. If there are qualified applicants, we invite at least one in each group for an interview. If you get the job, we will adapt the working conditions if you need it. Apart from selecting the right candidates, we will only use the information for anonymous statistics.

David Jensen, Espen Eidum
We offer

• Involvement in an interesting research project 
• Good career opportunities 
• A large degree of independence in working practice
• A good academic environment with dedicated colleagues  
• Flexible working hours and a state collective pay agreement  
• Pension scheme through the state pension fund  
• More practical information for working and living in Norway can be found here: https://uit.no/staffmobility

Application 

Your application must include: 

• Letter of application
• Description of your motivation for the need of long-term durability testing of newly developed sustainable concrete types (1-2 page)
• CV (containing a complete overview of education, supervised professional training and professional work)
• Diploma for bachelor's and master's degree
• Transcript of grades/academic record for bachelor's and master's degree
• Explanation of the grading system for foreign education (Diploma Supplement if available)
• Documentation of English proficiency
• Documentation of proficiency in Norwegian  (or a Scandinavian language) if applicable
• References with contact information
• Project description (5 pages)
• List of works and description of these

The list of works shall contain the following information:

• author(s), the work’s title

              for articles: the journal’s name and volume, the first and last page of the article, year of publication

              for publications: publisher, printer, year of publication, number of pages

• The works (published or unpublished) which the applicant wishes to be taken into consideration during the assessment process must be submitted

Qualification with a master’s degree is required before commencement in the position. If you are near completion of your master’s degree, you may still apply and submit a draft version of the thesis and a statement from your supervisor or institution indicating when the degree will be obtained. You must still submit your transcripts for the master’s degree with your application.

All documentation to be considered must be certified and in a Scandinavian language or English. Diplomas and transcripts must also be submitted in the original language, if not in English or Scandinavian. We only accept applications and documentation sent via Jobbnorge within the application deadline. 

General information 

The appointment is made in accordance with State regulations and guidelines at UiT. At our website, you will find more information for applicants . 

A shorter period of appointment may be decided when the PhD Fellow has already completed parts of their research training programme or when the appointment is based on a previous qualifying position PhD Fellow, research assistant, or the like in such a way that the total time used for research training amounts to three years. 

Remuneration for the position of PhD Fellow is in accordance with the State salary scale code 1017.  A compulsory contribution of 2 % to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund will be deducted.

We process personal data given in an application or CV in accordance with the Personal Data Act (Offentleglova). According to the Personal Data Act information about the applicant may be included in the public applicant list, also in cases where the applicant has requested non-disclosure. You will receive advance notification in the event of such publication, if you have requested non-disclosure. 

UiT - Developing the High North

UiT is a multi-campus research university in Norway and the northernmost university of the world. Our central location in the High North, our broad and diverse research and study portfolio, and our interdisciplinary qualities make us uniquely suited to meet the challenges of the future. At UiT you can explore global issues from a close-up perspective.

Credibility, academic freedom, closeness, creativity and commitment shall be hallmarks of the relationship between our employees, between our employees and our students and between UiT and our partners.

Apply for this job
Deadline

22nd February 2023

Employer

UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Municipality

Narvik

Scope

Fulltime (1 positions) Fulltime (%)

Duration

Fixed Term

Place of service

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