Aalto University is a new multidisciplinary university in the fields of technology, business, and art and design. It opens up new possibilities for strong multidisciplinary education and research. Aalto University has 20 000 students and a staff of 5 000 including 350 professors.

Aalto University School of Engineering invites applications for

A DOCTORAL STUDENT POSITION IN COMPUTATIONAL ICE MECHANICS

We have an open position for a doctoral student in the Arctic Marine and Ice Technology research group at the Department of Applied Mechanics. Our research group studies the behavior of ships and structures in ice, ice mechanics and also assesses the impact of sea ice on the safety of maritime transportation. One part of the research on ice mechanics is numerical modeling of the failure process of sea ice. The Department has developed an in-house code based on the Finite-Discrete Element Method (FEM-DEM). This code is continuously expanded and adapted to the study of sea ice failure processes against fixed structures and the formation, deformation and strength of ice ridges and ice rubble piles.

We are looking for a doctoral student to join our group and study ice-structure interaction process in shallow water. The goal is to understand the fundamental phenomena behind ice-structure interaction process occurring in shallow water. In this complex interaction process an intact ice sheet fails into discrete ice blocks, which affect further stages of the process. Realistic calculations of ice loads due to this process require modeling of the ice blocks and their pile-up process. The research will include both computational and experimental work. Our in-house FEM-DEM code will be used in modeling while the experiments will be performed in the Aalto Ice Tank, our 40 m × 40 m ice model basin.

Requirements
The call is open for candidates with a Master's degree in a wide range of backgrounds. Good understanding of solid mechanics and numerical modeling is required. A suitable background may come from applied or computational mechanics, mechanical engineering, marine engineering, civil engineering, engineering physics, or related disciplines. The applicant must fulfill the requirements for doctoral students at the Aalto University, School of Engineering.

Employment
The position is at the Department of Applied Mechanics and may include some work as a teaching assistant in courses. The expected duration of doctoral studies is four years, but a contract is first made for one year, and the extension is subject to advance of studies and research. The salary is according to the salary system of Aalto University.

How to apply
The application material includes

1. Motivation letter
2. CV and other proof of scientific activity (publications, conference papers etc.)
3. A certified copy of master´s degree certificate and official transcript of records, and their translations, if the originals are not in Finnish, Swedish or English
4. An English abstract the MSc thesis
5. Any other supporting documents, like recommendation letters

All material should be submitted in English. The application material will not be returned.

Applications with attachments (in pdf-format) for the position are to be submitted through the link below no later than 29 May 2015.

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

Further information
For additional information, please contact Assistant Professor Arttu Polojärvi (email: firstname.lastname@aalto.fi).