PhD Positions in Flood Safety, Soil Mechanics, and Backward Erosion Piping University of Twente in Netherlands

Two PhD positions are open at the University of Twente in the Soil Micro Mechanics group for research on flood safety, soil mechanics, and backward erosion piping (BEP). The project is part of the NWO-funded consortium Digital Dikes: A Multiscale Framework for Risk Assessment of Backward Erosion Piping.

The research focuses on understanding how dikes fail due to BEP across multiple scales: from the micro-scale behavior of individual soil particles to the macro-scale stability and risk of the full dike system. The work combines advanced numerical modelling, groundwater flow, computational mechanics, theory, and experiments to support climate-resilient infrastructure and flood defense.

Applicants should have a background in Civil Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Computational Mechanics, or a related field. The post highlights collaboration with Dutch Water Authorities, Rijkswaterstaat, STOWA, Deltares, and researchers from four leading universities, making it a strong fit for candidates interested in applied research with real-world impact.

This is a PhD opening rather than a scholarship announcement. No deadline is stated in the post excerpt. Interested candidates should use the vacancy links for Position 1 and Position 2 to review the full details and apply through the university application pages.