진학프로석·박사 채용 접수 플랫폼

Université Gustave Eiffel is looking for a candidate to apply for a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the framework of the Marie-Sklodowska Curie Programme 2026.

The Candidate and Université Gustave Eiffel's supervisor will apply together to develop the following research project : Development of a reverse-engineering methodology to formulate concretes in case of extended lifetime infrastructure

This postdoctoral position is part of a proposal to be submitted for funding under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) European Postdoctoral Fellowship program. The fellowship is contingent upon the selection and approval of the proposal by the European Commission. The successful candidate will work closely with the supervisor to co-develop (from March 30th, 2026 to September 9th, 2026) and submit the funding application, which will include a detailed research plan and a personalized Career Development Plan.

If the application is successful, the project will start at the earliest in May 2027.

1 - Background

Carbon emission reduction is not only a European goal but a necessity worldwide in order to limit the global warming. More and more industries are looking for new ways to decrease their carbon production, through improved production processes, lower waste production or even waste reuse as fuels or raw materials. Specifically, the cement industry represents approximately 8% of the global carbon emission, nearly all due to clinker production. The development of new cements considered as low carbon due to their lower clinker content or calcination temperature due to the use of industrial by-products (slags, silica fumes, fly ashes, mining sludges, …) or new raw materials (recycled aggregates, clays, …) can be a way to decrease this impact. However, the best carbon emission is the one that is not produced. Considering this, extending the lifetime of the infrastructure (dams, bridges, nuclear power plants, …) beyond the initially planned one, is the new goal for the construction industry, but this creates new uncertainties. For example, the concrete bioshield in nuclear power plants (NPPs) is a critical protective layer that absorbs neutron and gamma radiation, which both may alter the crystalline phases in the concrete, possibly causing internal expansion and potential damage. Extending their service life well beyond the 40 years they had been designed for, is a challenge for the future (Khmurovska and Štemberk 2019). Moreover, unconventional materials with as-low-as-possible embodied carbon, in line with the broader process of phasing out cements with high clinker content, have been used sparingly for infrastructure construction and for only a decade, making it difficult to extrapolate how they might degrade in the long-term. All this points to a common barrier: a lack of long-term experimental data to assess whether performance and resistance against degradation (Delayed Ettringite Formation - DEF, Alkali-Silica Reaction - ASR, carbonation or rebar corrosion) will safely be maintained over the decades. As decisions on new concretes and life extension must be made now, we cannot wait decades for data. A possible option would be drilling out cores of concrete infrastructures, but this can be difficult and not always feasible (NPPs). When possible, the initial composition is often unknown, making it more difficult to understand how the current mature materials aged during service life. Moreover, if drilled out, it is probable that very few samples will be available.

2 - Objectives

To address these fundamental limitations, this project aims to build trust in physical predictions of long-term degradation through an original combination of advanced simulations, experimental characterisation, and degradation tests, all pivoted on a novel methodology to produce aged-equivalent concrete samples. Specific objectives are to: (O1) Define mix designs and curing protocols to rapidly obtain (e.g. in 28 days) concrete samples whose microstructure and properties reflect those of aged samples, in terms of mineral composition, mechanical strength, porosity, permeability, etc.; (O2) Define a simulation methodology to predict the long-term chemo-mechanical degradation of concrete depending on its mix design; (O3) Extrapolate the long-term degradation of concrete samples by alternating short-term model predictions and accelerated aging experiments on reconstructed aged-equivalent samples. The methods to develop and adopt will be: for O1, literature review on reconstruction techniques, thermodynamic modelling for mix-designing equivalent sample, plus dedicated experimental characterisation at the macroscale (density, total porosity by water absorption, unconfined compressive strength, etc.) and at the microscale (phase assemblages of cement paste and aggregates, through SEM-EDS, XRD, XRF, Raman spectroscopy, TGA-MS and ICP-MS); for O2, mesoscale modelling of concrete degradation (LDPM – Lattice Discrete Particle Model) informed by microstructural chemo-mechanical simulations (Kinetic Monte Carlo); for O3, accelerated degradation tests of degradation processes, such as DEF, ASR, carbonation or chloride ingress.

3 - Who are we?
CPDM laboratory (Physico-Chemical Behaviour and Durability of Materials) in MAST department of Université Gustave Eiffel investigates cementitious materials hydration, properties and durability, from atomic to centimetric scale with mineral, chemical and physical characterisations.
EMGCU (Experimentation and Modelling in Civil and Urban Engineering) in MAST department of Université Gustave Eiffel investigates mechanical behaviour and durability of civil engineering materials and structures.
MMS (Mechanics of Materials and Structure) in DICA department of Politecnico di Milano investigates the mechanics of solids and structures at multiple length-scales, through theory and simulation.
SE (Structures and Environment) in DICA department of Politecnico di Milano investigates the mechanics and degradation of infrastructure materials, through laboratory experiments and numerical modelling.

4 - Planned secondments

Milan, Italy, in Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Politecnico di Milano (Italy)

5 - Planned duration of the project

24 months

6 - References
Khmurovska, Y. and P. Štemberk (2019). Mechanisms behind radiation-induced deterioration of concrete. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, IOP Publishing.