Postdoctoral Researcher Nature Inspired Architectured Concrete

Help shape a more sustainable future for the building sector, where infrastructure is grown, not just built.

• Concrete is a quasi-brittle material with low tensile strength, requiring steel reinforcement with significant environmental costs.
• Nature has perfected turning brittle minerals into tough materials, like nacre in seashells, by combining them with soft organic polymers.
• This project explores a fundamentally different approach: guiding the growth of a chitinous fungal network through a 3D-printed concrete scaffold.
• The result would be a new class of living composite materials that are not only structurally resilient but also inherently sustainable.
• The project aims to prove the concept of hard/soft concrete composites and builds on existing numerical models and research activities.

What you will do.

• Use existing computational tools and research foundations to investigate promising concrete architectures.
• Design and perform simple experiments to test and validate the developed architectures.
• Combine modelling and experimental results to understand how architecture influences the mechanical performance of the composites.

What they ask

• A PhD in Civil Engineering, Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related engineering discipline, with a proven track record of scientific publishing.
• Experience with mechanical testing and/or numerical modelling (e.g., Abaqus) is a bonus.
• You can independently plan, execute, and communicate your research effectively.
• Excellent written and spoken English.
• Since this is a focused and short research project, it is preferred if the candidate is already in the Netherlands.