PhD (4 years) on design, manufacturing and testing of composite propellers for underwater drone applications
Ghent University is one of the top 100 universities in the Dutch language area, with more than 44,000 students and 15,000 staff members.
[Net salary (after taxes) starting from 2600 EUR/month]
UGent-MMS is part of a European project on next generation propellers for underwater drones. Such underwater drones are becoming more and more important in mine counter‑measure applications and surveillance tasks. They are sent out by the mother ship and can sweep mines or inspect critical maritime infrastructure. In this project, the propellers will be made of composite materials, and should sustain all mechanical loads in‑service. The consortium consists of a large group of European defence companies and research institutes. The research tasks at UGent-MMS involve several aspects: (i) design and finite element simulation of different propeller geometries and material configurations, (ii) optimisation of material choices and manufacturing processes, and (iii) mechanical characterization of the built propellers.
The PhD researcher will interact with the different partners in the European project, in particular also with the research partner at the Royal Military Academy in Belgium, who is doing the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations to estimate the hydrodynamic loads on the propellers.
Only candidates with a Master degree should apply. The candidate should have a strong interest in experimental and computational mechanics of composite materials, and should be enthusiastic to work in a collaborative project between industry and academia. The candidate should also be willing to travel regularly to other European countries for experimental testing campaigns at different partners.
* You are interested in research and have obtained a Master and/or PhD degree.
* You are interested to interact and collaborate closely with the industrial partners during the research period.
* You have an education in Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computational Mechanics, Biomedical Engineering, or similar.
* You are familiar with mechanics of materials and experimental or computational techniques (depending on the specific vacancy requirement mentioned above).
* Mastering the Dutch language is not a prerequisite, but a good knowledge of English writing and speaking is absolutely required.
What do we offer?
* You will be working in a dynamic environment. Our group has expanded quite fast in the last few years and currently 8 postdocs and 15 PhD students are working in our group. Besides, 18 PhD students have successfully obtained their PhD degree in the last five years.
* We have extensive experimental and numerical facilities. You will have access to several Linux workstations and a high‑performance computing cluster to run finite element simulations on 2000+ cores.
* We have good contacts with the regional composite and additive manufacturing industry and regional universities, so you will be in contact with industrial applications of composites and related research in other universities.
* You will get the chance to attend international conferences (e.g. ECCM, ICCM, …) and to present papers on these conferences. For those who are interested, an international exchange with another university is possible. As publications are increasingly important (also for your career afterwards), you are encouraged to publish your results not only on international conferences, but also in peer‑reviewed international journals.
* You will have a personal laptop and a private workspace. All PhD students and staff have their office in the same wing of the building. The laboratories are separate in another wing of the same building.
* If you are just graduated (junior PhD student), your net income is about 2600 EUR per month. That is the amount of money that is deposited on your bank account every month (after taxes). If you have a dependent wife/husband and/or children, the salary is raised. Also seniority can be taken into account if you can show former relevant experience. The salary for postdoctoral researchers starts at 2900 EUR net income per month (after taxes).
* The cost for the PhD study itself is very limited. Our education system is very different from the system in the United Kingdom. When you start your PhD study, you pay a once‑only tuition fee of ca. 1000 EUR, and the rest of your study is free of charge.
* The university offers compensations for public transport (train) and bicycle. The work location can be reached easily by public transport (train and tram/bus).
* A hospitalisation insurance policy can be concluded.
* There are a lot of sport accommodations and other benefits (reductions on computer purchase, internet connection, fitness, …) for university personnel.
* You write a detailed Curriculum Vitae in Dutch or English, containing:
o Your personal details (name, address, date of birth, nationality, …)
o Your education, subject of master thesis and degrees
o Transcripts of records of Bachelor and Master degree
o Your work experience (previous jobs)
o Additional skills (finite element software, programming languages, communication skills, …)
o Mastered languages (Dutch, English, French)
o References (previous projects in the domain, published papers, …)
* You send the CV by e‑mail to the following person:
Prof. Wim VAN PAEPEGEM
Ghent University
Mechanics of Materials and Structures
Technologiepark‑Zwijnaarde 46
9052 Zwijnaarde
Belgium
Tel.: +32-(0)9-331.04.32
E‑mail: [email protected]
* You can contact Prof. Wim VAN PAEPEGEM for any additional information, either by phone or e‑mail or a personal appointment.
Job details
Title: PhD (4 years) on design, manufacturing and testing of composite propellers for underwater drone applications.
Location: Ghent, Belgium.
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