Announcement

The Czech Technical University in Prague - University Center for Energy Efficient Buildings (UCEEB) offers post-doctoral positions in the field of fire design and timber structures.

Start date:  1 July 2014 until all positions are filled
Contract duration: until 30 June 2015
Deadline for applications: no later than 1 July 2014 (new call is expecting to start end of 2015)

Project organization

The present project integrates seven different topics aligned with the research activities of UCEEB. Each topic will be supervised by a mentor from the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague, with long-term experience in the relevant fields of research. The project is supported by the European Union.

The mentors involved in the project from Department of Building Structures  and Department of Steel and Timber Structures are:

František Wald (full professor, Wald @ fsv.cvut.cz), an expert in the fire design, steel and aluminum structures, in charge of European network COST  IFER;  and European Erasmus Master program SUSCOS M. 

Petr Kuklík (associate professor, Pert.Kuklik @ fsv.cvut.cz an expert in the timber structures.

Research topics

Fire resistance of timber based houses

Work will focus on experimental, numerical and analytical simulations of fire resistance of timber multi-storey buildings.  Particular attention will be paid to the use of new isolation materials and its current dimensions, construction details, and electrical distribution systems, which can significantly, achieved values of curtain wall panels and wood-based discarded.  Outputs will focus on the use of composite wood deeper silicate materials with a focus on advanced reinforced concrete structure with the third generation of wires and their combinations. The innovation is working with the transition from the verification of individual elements to use behaviour of the structure as a whole, including the ceiling membrane behaviour in case of large deformations.  The contributions will focusing gradually on the description of materials behaviour, the behaviour connectors, composite beams, and finally of a whole floor slab as and the behaviour of the entire structure weakened penetrations and openings. Mentor Prof. Wald.

 

Fire property of timber based panels

Work will focus on experimental, numerical and analytical simulations of fire properties of timber based buildings.  The Full scale room test for surface products, according to ISO 9705:1993 will be used to describe the fire behaviour of new products under controlled laboratory conditions. Experimental work will be focused on full-scale fire testing and numerical simulation of fire in enclosure, i.e. in building interior. Particular attention will be head towards to fire characteristics verification of products for surface working of building structures (walls, ceilings etc.), their reaction to fire, contribution to fire growth and flashover effect, rate of heat release, analyses of combustion products etc. Fire testing will focused on progressive building products and components in their development process, on the products that cannot be or are not appropriate for small-scale testing (thermoplastics, composite materials, board products with junctions or joints, thermal insulation etc.) or on the products, where there is an eminent interest to verify their behaviour during real fire scenario. Mentor Prof. Wald.

 

Robustness of timber based houses

Work will focus on experimental work and numerical simulations of advanced fire resistance of composite steel and concrete structures under blast loading, earthquake and fire, including their combinations.  Particular attention will be paid to the deformation capacity of the elements and their connections, the use of new materials and construction details.  Outputs will focus on a deeper use of composite steel silicate materials with a focus on advanced reinforced concrete structures reinforced with advanced new generation and its combination with classical reinforcement.  When working with the transition from the verification of individual elements to use behaviours of the structure as a whole, including the concept of deformable solid columns and ceilings method vulnerability and the ceiling membrane behaviour when large deformations.  Assumed contributions will focus to gradually on the knowledge of the behaviour of the connections, the behaviour of slab as a whole and the behaviour of the whole structure in interaction with columns and vertical reinforcement system. Mentor Prof. Wald.

 

General requirements

We are looking for candidates who

• hold a Ph.D. degree (or equivalent) in the research area related to the selected topic,
• have an ability to perform independent research with a strong emphasis on publications in refereed journals,
• possess excellent communication skills and written/verbal knowledge of the English language.

We offer

• the possibility to work in a newly established dynamic and ambitious research center with the state-of-the art equipment,
• a 30 month contract with a critical evaluation after the first year,
• a gross salary of 56,000 CZK per month (approximately 2,200 Euro or 2,800 USD),
• a partial coverage of the mandatory social and medical insurance by the employer (the employee has to contribute 6.5% of the gross salary to pension insurance, 4.5% to health insurance and, according to the currently valid legislation, approximately 16.5% is deduced as income tax),
• the coverage of travel expenses of up to 55,000 CZK per year,
• the coverage of operating costs of up to 40,000 CZK per year.

Application

For more information, please contact the mentor using the e-mail address specified above.

Interested candidates are invited to send their applications directly to the relevant mentor. The application must contain:

• a Curriculum Vitae (one page),
• a motivation letter (two pages), stating personal goals and research interests,
• a detailed list of publications,
• two letters of recommendation sent by the referees directly to the mentor (with detailed contact information: email, telephone number and address), one of them written by the previous supervisor,
• a certificate of proficiency in English (CAE, TOEFL or equivalent) or an electronic copy of the candidate’s Ph.D. thesis written in English.

Both national and international applications to this advertisement are appreciated. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until all the positions are filled. Promising candidates will be contacted by e-mail, and will be invited for an interview at the Czech Technical University in Prague (with reasonable travel costs covered by the project).