Position as PhD Research fellow isavailable at Department of Geosciences.

If the successful candidate has a good knowledge of one Scandinavian language (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish), the fellowship will be for a period of 4 years, with 25 % compulsory work (teaching responsibilities at the Department). Otherwise, the fellowship will be for a period of 3 years, with no compulsory work. Starting date no later than 1 October 2016. No one can be appointed for more than one fixed-term period at the same institution.

Job/ project description:

The project is entitled “From suspension to granular flows”. Flows in the Earth’s interior are often heterogeneous, with rigid clasts surrounded by viscous solids or fluids. In suspension flows, shear-induced mixing and homogenization processes are particularly interesting for complex background flows such as in the case of crystal-bearing melts in magmatic conduits. At large clast fractions, an extensive network of contacting particles continuously reconfigures during flow such as in the case of granular materials generated along earthquake faults or in rockslides. The effective mechanical behavior is dominated by fracturing of grains and frictional interactions at grain contacts leadingto strongly non-linear rheological behavior, largely independent of the interstitial fluid. Many natural systems have intermediate fraction values and exhibit a spectrum of rheological behavior, including concomitant ductile and brittle mechanisms. It is largely unknown how these mechanisms combine, whether shear localization could occur in such systems,and how widely thetransition depends on microstructuralcharacteristics such as grain size distribution,aspect ratio or roughness. In the project, direct numerical simulations and analogue experiments will be used to develop improved mechanical models of mixed suspension and granular flows.

This PhD Research Fellowship is part of the Strategic Research Initiative ‘Earth Flows’. The project will be conducted at Physics of Geological Processes, which is a cross-disciplinary research group at the Departments of Geosciences and Physics at the University of Oslo. The student will be supervised by specialists in numerical and analogue modelling of suspension and granular flows (Marcin Dabrowski, Kjetil Thøgersen, Karen Mair, Atle Jensen, Andreas Carlson).

Requirements/qualifications:

Applicants must hold a Master’s degree or equivalent in Earth Sciences, Physics, Fluid Dynamics, or a related discipline at the start of fellowship. The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has a strategic ambition of being a leading research faculty. Candidates for these fellowships will be selected in accordance with this, and expected to be in the upper segment of their class with respect to academic credentials.

The purpose of the fellowship is research training leading to the successful completion of a PhD degree. The fellowship requires admission to the PhD programme at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. The application to the PhD programme must be submitted to the department no later than two months after taking up the position. For more information see here and here.

We are looking for candidates with strong quantitative skills and experienced with numerical modeling of hydrodynamics flows. The required qualifications are as follows:

Experience with numerical modelling

Knowledge of continuum mechanics

Strong programming skills, preferably in MATLAB

Experience with analogue modeling is desired, although not required.

A good command of English is required.

Salary:

Position code 1017, NOK 432 700 – ۴۸۹ ۳۰۰  per year (Pay grade 50 – 57)

The application must include:

Application letter

CV (summarizing education, positions and academic work – scientific publications)

Copies of educational certificates, transcript of records and letters of recommendation

Documentation of English proficiency

List of publications and academic work that the applicant wishes to be considered by the evaluation committee

Names and contact details of 2-3 references (name, relation to candidate, e-mail and telephone number)

Foreign applicants are advised to attach an explanation of their University’s grading system. Please remember that all documents should be in English or a Scandinavian language.

In accordance with the University of Oslo’s equal opportunities policy, we invite applications from all interested individuals regardless of gender or ethnicity.

UiO has an agreement for all employees, aiming to secure rights to research results a.o.

Region: Oslo

Job type: Contract

Working hours: Full-time

Working days: Day

Application deadline: ۲۹ July 2016