carbon capture, durability, and regeneration of concrete reuse

Open Fully-funded Ph.D. Position on carbon intake, durability, and regeneration of concrete reuse

University of Luxembourg

Prof. Numa Bertola

The Sustainable Concrete Structure Laboratory is looking for a new Ph.D. candidate. In this fully-funded position, the Ph.D. candidate will work on using novel sensing technologies to extend the service life of bridges, and improve the sustainability of the construction sector.

As the successful candidate, you will contribute to a research project at the intersection of engineering (concrete structures), material science (carbon capture), and circular economy (reuse).

The aim of this Ph.D. project is to quantify carbon intake and its impacts on the properties of concrete produced through direct reuse. Moreover, an ambitious healing of pre-existing cracks with a novel bio-based solution involving, microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) (collaboration with the Department of Physics) will be developed.

The tasks comprise the development of a laboratory campaign of carbon capture on concrete, the development of a reused-concrete durability model, and the design of the rehabilitation with bio-based solutions of the existing cracks.

This groundbreaking research output will lead to the development of truly circular processes in the concrete industry, the long-term sequestration of carbon with concrete structures, and the reduction of carbon emissions linked to the construction sector.

University of Luxembourg is an international research university with a distinctly multilingual and interdisciplinary character. The University was founded in 2003 and counts more than 6,700 students and more than 2,000 employees from around the world. Times Higher Education ranks the University of Luxembourg #3 worldwide for its “international outlook,” #20 in the Young University Ranking 2021, and among the top 250 universities worldwide. The institution embraces inclusion and diversity as key values. We are fully committed to removing any discriminatory barrier related to gender, and not only, in recruitment and career progression of our staff.

This project calls for an open character with a strong knowledge on concrete structures as well as curiosity across discipline boundaries (civil engineering, material science, computer science, and chemistry/biology). We do not expect any single person to be an expert across all these fields, but you must be open to learning about and embracing challenges in fields you may not yet have been working with. We thus warmly encourage you to apply even if you feel that you only partially meet the criteria in terms of background and expertise, as you will have the opportunity to acquire the missing knowledge during the first year of the project.

Requirements for the post are:

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in civil engineering (or related area).
• Good understanding of the structural behavior and material properties of concrete structures and modelling of civil structures. Knowledge of concrete durability and circular economy is a plus.
• Curiosity, a genuine passion for scientific research
• Openness to interdisciplinary research and commitment to teamwork.
• Commitment and capacity to critical thinking and good research ethics.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.