Technical University of Cartagena (UPCT) are seeking candidates interested in developing an application for and pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship at our university and we invite expressions of interest for a joint application under the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions – Call: MSCA-PF-2024. The postdoctoral position is for 2 years starting in spring 2025.

• About UPCT:

Technical University of Cartagena (UPCT) is a public university with long experience and tradition in engineering and economic studies, It was created in 1998. It places great emphasis on international cooperation and mobility, welcoming approximately 200 foreign students and lecturers. With over 90 R&D groups, this University aims to be not only a place for the dissemination of knowledge but also a source of scientific and technological creation. UPCT R&D&i activity is wide and broad, but it is mainly focused in these topics & fields: automation, robotics, industry 4.0, agricultural & food technologies, economy & business, energy, water and environment, soil sciences and mining, industrial & chemical engineering, naval & oceanic technology, marine sciences, electronic & mechanical engineering, building technologies, construction, civil engineering & architecture, urbanism & territorial planning, smart cities, information & communication technologies (ICTs) and technologies for health & wellness. The UPCT is committed to the promotion of research, development, innovation and scientific exchange with numerous public and private national and international institutions, reinforcing its links with the world of industry.

Some figures about UPCT R&D&i activities are these:

- 758 researchers and technical staff

-  98 research groups

- More than 1.000 R&D&i projects

All kind of research results can be found here: https://portalinvestigacion.upct.es/

• HR Excellence in Research (HRS4)

Technical University of Cartagena (UPCT) has been awarded the European quality seal 'HR Excellence in Research' since August 2022. This is a distinction of the European Commission that recognises those institutions that are committed to a favourable and stimulating research environment. The strategy is inspired by The European Charter for Researchers and The Code of Conduct for Recruitment. The main objective of HRS4R is to promote excellence in research and to attract, retain and develop the best international scientific talent, ensuring open, transparent selection processes based on merit and ability. More information: https://hrs-researcher.upct.es/ 

• Hosting / Research group description

The Multiphysics Simulation and Optimization Lab (MultiSimO Lab) is a R&D group and a team of interdisciplinary scientists and engineers with enthusiasm for computational modelling and optimization of engineering designs. Today’s problems, unlike traditional science and engineering, do not involve physical processes covered by a single traditional discipline of physics or the associated mathematics. Complex systems encountered in virtually all applications of interest to Computational Engineering involve many distinct physical processes. The issue of coupling models of different events at different scales and governed by different physical laws is largely wide open and represents an enormously challenging area for future research. Accordingly, our team specializes in developing state-of-the-art simulation and optimization methods for use in structural and multidisciplinary design problems. The MultiSimO team works in collaboration with multidisciplinary researchers at the interface of engineering, computer science and applied mathematics and strives to find simple and disruptive engineering solutions. The candidate would interactuate with a team of professors and researchers based in UPCT at Cartagena (Professors Jesús Martinez Frutos and Rogelio Ortigosa Martínez) in close collaboration with CIMNE-UPC at Barcelona (Professor Javier Bonet) and Zienkiewicz Institute for Modelling, Data and AI  at Swansea University (Professor  Antonio J. Gil).

MSO is one of the groups of Higher Technical School of Industrial Engineering (ETSII UPCT). This centre has a proven track record of research and relevant scientific production. 

• Research field

Expressions of interest aligned with the following research theme and supervisors are welcome:

- In-silico design of tuneable smart metamaterials for advanced mutifunctional structures.

This research area involves the development of a computational environment embedding cutting-edge topology optimisation techniques, machine learning, reduced order models, efficient and robust discretisation techniques and solvers capable of addressing the open problem of design of tuneable smart metamaterials.

Metamaterials are architected composites carefully designed to show superior properties to those available in nature, such as ultrahigh stiffness and strength-to-weight ratio, or unusual properties, such as a negative Poissons ratio, a negative coefficient of thermal expansion.

Recent metamaterial designs have been able to exhibit programmable shape transformations and tuneable mechanical properties. Others have shown excellent energy absorption properties. Additionally, biomechanical applications have in parallel emerged, and new metamaterials have been designed as scaffolds to promote bone cell formation.

This project aims to take a metamaterial approach towards the design of smart devices such as smart structures, acoustic liners and bandgaps, energy harvesters or soft actuators. The challenge however, inherent to the across scales interactions (from micro/meso to macro) and the multi-physic nature of multi-functional materials, prevents also here to advocate for just a unidisciplinary approach to unravel the immense potential of stimuli-responsive metamaterials in these applications. The objective of the project is to advocate for a multi-disciplinary approach, requiring the development of a multiphysic simulation platform (electro-magneto-acousto-mechanics)   endowed with multifunctional topology optimisation and physics-informed machine learning techniques, counting in parallel on invaluable experimental validation in the physical lab. Our vision is that only through this paradigm, it is possible to produce a striding impact in the new generation of multi-functional smart materials.

• Where to apply? Selection process:

Researchers should send an email expressing their interest and enclosing their CV to email opect@upct.es and jesus.martinez@upct.es (deadline: 21/03/2024) (All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, disability, race, religion or ethic background are encourage to apply)

Expressions of interest must be submitted as one PDF file containing all materials to be given consideration. The file must include:

☒Expression of interest (cover letter)

☒A max 2-3 pages Research Proposal Summary aligned with one or more of the above stated theme

☒CV

☒Academic Diplomas (MSc/PhD)

☒List of publications

Researchers of UPCT will do an online interview to get to know the candidate.

For MSCA-PF call, at the deadline for the submission of proposals (11/09/2024) candidates shall have a maximum of 8 years of postdoctoral researchexperience and must not have resided or carried out their main activities in Spain or more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the abovementioned deadline. Those files received before 21/03/2024 will be considered for MSCA-PF 2024 call. Applications received after this date, will be considered for other postdoctoral calls or future applications after discussion with the candidate.

More information: https://www.upct.es/contenido/idi/investigar_en_la_upct.php