Doctoral Position in Mechanics of Frictional Particle Suspensions

About the role

The Professorship of Solid Mechanics (SMEC) in the Institute for Building Materials at ETH Zurich seeks a motivated doctoral student to study how microscopic frictional interactions govern the macroscopic behavior of dense particle suspensions. The project investigates how sliding and rolling friction, alone and combined, shape the rheological response across scales, combining physics-based modeling, simulation, theory and quantitative comparison with experiments with partners from the ETH Department of Materials.

Key responsibilities

• Conduct a computational and theoretical investigation of how particle-scale frictional interactions govern the macroscopic flow response of concentrated suspensions.
• Connect particle-scale mechanics, including particle geometry and frictional interactions, with the collective and macroscopic response of the suspension using physics-based models.
• Implement and use particle-based simulation methods, including coarse-grained molecular dynamics, and verify and validate them against datasets provided by collaborators.
• Analyze simulation results to identify the physical mechanisms controlling the suspension response and collaborate with experimental researchers to interpret their observations.

Required profile

• MSc degree in mechanics, physics, civil/mechanical/aerospace/bio-engineering, material science or a related discipline.
• Background in mechanics, applied physics, computational mechanics, scientific computing or a related field; solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, dynamics or numerical modeling is particularly relevant.
• Experience implementing scientific code and validating results against reference data.
• Fluent English (oral and written).
• Team player with good communication skills; experience with colloidal suspensions, rheology or coarse-grained molecular dynamics is an advantage but not required.

Required skills

• Prior programming experience in Python and use of version control.
• Ability to learn the project-specific methods and concepts during doctoral studies.

What we offer

• A dynamic, international and supportive research group.
• Public transport season tickets, car sharing, sports facilities, childcare and pension benefits.
• Flexible start date, possibly as soon as possible.

Applications are submitted online through the university's application portal with a CV, academic transcript, a brief statement on the project idea and two references.