PhD student Structural Mechanics - Model Order Reduction
(ref. BAP
Laatst aangepast: 23/01/26
Within the frame of the project \"Model order reduction techniques for fast prediction of railway induced vibration in the built environment\", funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), the Structural Mechanics Section of the Department of Civil Engineering of KU Leuven has a vacancy for a PhD student.
Research in the Structural Mechanics Section of the Department of Civil Engineering focuses on the static and dynamic analysis of structures and is structured along five research lines: vibration in the built environment, structural monitoring, building acoustics, computational structural engineering and human-induced vibration of civil engineering structures. The topic of this PhD thesis is situated within the themes of vibration assessment in the built environment and computational structural engineering.
The PhD student will work under supervision of prof. Geert Degrande and prof. Stijn François (Structural Mechanics Section, Department of Civil Engineering). We offer an excellent and international research environment and have a lot of experience with supervising PhD students.
The Department of Civil Engineering is nicely located in and near the Arenberg Castle on Campus Arenberg in Heverlee, one kilometre from Leuven's city center.
Founded in 1425, KU Leuven is currently the largest university in Belgium in terms of research funding and expenditure, and a charter member of LERU. KU Leuven conducts fundamental and applied research in all academic disciplines with a clear international orientation. KU Leuven is ranked as the 47th (globally) and 12th (European) university in the Times Higher Education ranking and as first European university in Reuters Top 100 of the world's most innovative universities, for four years in a row.
Project
Railway transport is a safe, efficient, and environmentally friendly mode of transportation, but noise and vibration remain a major environmental challenge for the railway sector. Therefore, a wide range of numerical models have been developed for the prediction of vibration along the track and in neighboring buildings, aimed to design vibration mitigation measures and to perform environmental impact studies. Parametric studies, design optimization, and stochastic analysis, however, necessitate calculations for many parameter values, resulting in a curse of dimensionality. This problem can be solved by means of model order reduction methods such as Proper Generalized Decomposition (PGD). We will develop PGD for parametric studies on tracks and for vibration mitigation in buildings. Hence, we encompass the complete transmission path from source to receiver. Efficient parametric and stochastic analysis techniques will be developed, that will certainly find wider applications in structural dynamics.
Profile
We are looking for a PhD student holding a MSc degree in Civil or Computational Engineering, obtained not earlier than 2023, and having a solid background in one or more of the following subjects: structural dynamics, dynamic-soil structure interaction, elastodynamics, and computational mechanics.
Offer
Interested candidates should be motivated to complete a PhD within three to four years. We offer a PhD position for a period of three years, starting as soon as possible (preferably no later than 1 September Back-up funding for an extension of nine months is provided by the PI. We offer a competitive PhD grant of about 2485 EUR per month net, depending on your marital status.
More information on becoming a PhD student at KU Leuven and living in Leuven can be found at, (Leuven Arenberg Doctoral School) and Depending on their background (MSc diploma, research experience), students may first need to pass a pre-doctoral test, e.g. selected courses (12 ECTS) and research work with presentation (3 ECTS), prior to being allowed to the PhD program.
Interested?
Interested students are invited to submit their application file online (in a single pdf file) before 15 March 2026, containing the following information: (1) motivation letter; (2) curriculum vitae (including date of birth, hobbies, interests, engagement as a student,…); (3) list of publications (please do not add copies of these publications); (4) transcript of records (BSc and MSc degrees); (5) copy of diplomas (BSc and MSc degrees); (6) proof of proficiency in English (TOEFL or IETLS certificate or equivalent proof); and (7) contact details of three persons who can provide a reference on our request (so please do not include reference letters, only provide contact details).
We request a TOEFL ibt total score of 94, with no section scores below 22, or an IELTS overall band score of 7.0, with no band scores below 6.5.
Pre-selected candidates will be invited for a Skype interview with the supervisors.
The deadline of 15 March 2026 might be extended if required.
For more information please contact Prof. dr. ir. Geert Degrande, mail:
You can apply for this job no later than March 15, 2026 via the online application tool
KU Leuven strives for an inclusive, respectful and socially safe environment. We embrace diversity among individuals and groups as an asset. Open dialogue and differences in perspective are essential for an ambitious research and educational environment. In our commitment to equal opportunity, we recognize the consequences of historical inequalities. We do not accept any form of discrimination based on, but not limited to, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, ethnic or national background, skin colour, religious and philosophical diversity, neurodivergence, employment disability, health, or socioeconomic status. For questions about accessibility or support offered, we are happy to assist you at this email address.
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Tewerkstellingspercentage: Voltijds
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Locatie: Leuven
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15/03/2026 23:59 CET
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