项目介绍

2025年4月11日

About the position

About the position

We have a vacancy for a Ph.D. Candidate within the timber structures’ group at the Department of Structural Engineering. 

The timber structures group at NTNU has had a great development over the last years. The research interests of the group are focused on development of structural concepts for mid-rise timber buildings, timber bridges with long spans, development of high-performance connections based on threaded rods, static and dynamic testing of timber components and investigation of fracture and high-cycle fatigue. The research methods are based on both small-scale and full-scale experimental testing and on Finite Element Modelling.

Are you motivated to take a step towards a doctorate and open up exciting career opportunities? As a PhD Candidate with us, you will work to achieve your doctorate, and at the same time gain valuable experience that qualifies you for a further career in higher education and research, in and outside academia.

About the project

Tretten bridge collapsed in 2022 after just 10 years since its construction. This collapse has drawn significant attention to the safety of timber bridges, leading to the closure of 14 Norwegian timber bridges. As of today, several of these bridges remain still fully or partially closed. 

According to the investigations of the Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority (NSIA/Havarikommisjon), the collapse was a consequence of a brittle failure in one of the dowel-connections in the timber diagonals of the truss, likely caused by fatigue phenomena, where the capacity of the connection decreases over time because of sustained traffic load.

Despite the growing interest in timber as a sustainable construction material, and despite the numerous timber bridges existing nowadays, research on fatigue in timber connections is extremely limited. Currently, the basis for the evaluation of fatigue of dowel-connections in typical timber truss bridges comes from a 1996 experimental study. However, its scope was limited to a specific configuration and thus does not have general validity. 

The objective of this Ph.D. project is two-fold. First, to evaluate the fatigue capacity under cyclic loading of dowel-connections for timber bridges and provide improved fatigue data and design rules. Second, to explore possible enhancements of the fatigue capacity of such connections. Addressing these gaps will provide critical insights into the long-term performance of timber bridges and help optimize connection design for improved durability.

The research will involve both experimental work and finite element modelling, and it will involve cooperation with stakeholders.

The Ph.D. project aims to start in August/September 2025. The Ph.D. position holder will be required to work in Trondheim, together with the rest of the timber structures group. 

Your immediate leader will be the supervising professor. 
 

Duties of the position

• Completing the doctoral education (including courses for a minimum of 30 credits) 
• Carrying out research of high-quality within the project framework
• Publishing academic papers and contributing to scientific dissemination
• Participating in international activities and networking (e.g. conferences)
• Carrying out review of existing literature 
• Carrying out experimental testing of dowel-connections for timber constructions subjected to cyclic loading. 
• Evaluating the fatigue capacity of dowel-connections by use of experimental and/or finite element method.
• Assessing methods for enhancing the fatigue capacity of dowel connections.
• Determining improved design rules on fatigue of timber connections.

Be prepared for changes to your work duties after employment.

Required selection criteria

• You must have an academically relevant background within Structural Engineering.
• You must have a Master’s degree in Structural Engineering or equivalent. Your course of study must correspond to a five-year Norwegian program, where 120 credits have been obtained at master’s level. Master’s students can apply, but the master’s degree must be obtained and documented before starting the position.
• You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and an average grade from the master’s degree program, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared with NTNU’s grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic basis. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be assessed if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education.
• You must meet the requirements for admission to the faculty’s doctoral program
• You must have good written and oral English language skills.

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PLEASE NOTE: For detailed information about what the application must contain, see paragraph “About the application”.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with Regulations for the Universities and Colleges Act (university and colleges regulations) and Regulations for the degrees philosophiae doctor (ph.d.) and philosophiae doctor (ph.d.) in artistic development work at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) for general criteria for the position.

Preferred selection criteria

• Suitable background (M.Sc. degree or equivalent) within structural engineering and/or timber engineering.
• Experience in scientific wood-related laboratory work
• Knowledge of Finite Element software (e.g. Abaqus or similar)
• Programming skills (e.g. Matlab, Python or similar). 
• Knowledge of European standards for the design of buildings (Eurocodes)

Personal characteristics

To complete a doctoral degree (PhD), it is important that you are able to: 

• To complete a doctoral degree (PhD), it is important that you:
• are highly motivated and diligent
• are able to work both independently and as part of a group.
• are able to work in a structured way, set goals and make plans to achieve them
• have good communication skills in scientific writing and oral presentations.
• Emphasis will be placed on personal qualities.

Emphasis will be placed on personal qualities.

We offer

• An exciting job with an important mission in society
• Developing tasks in a strong and international professional environment
• Career guidance and follow-up during the PhD period
• Open and inclusive working environment with committed colleagues
• Mentor programme as a new employee at NTNU
• As a public employee, you have favourable benefits as a member of the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund (SPK) 

You will be employed as a PhD Candidate at NTNU and will have access to employee benefits and discounts. 

Diversity

Diversity is a strength, and at NTNU we aim to be an employer that reflects the diversity in society and that makes use of the potential of the population’s collective skills. Our vision is Knowledge for a better world and our values ​​are creative, critical, constructive and respectful. We believe that an organization that is equal, diverse and gender-balanced is essential for us to achieve our goals. 

We strive to attract employees with different skills, life experiences and perspectives to contribute to even better problem solving of our societal mission in research and education. 

If you think this position is relevant and interesting, we encourage you to apply, regardless of gender, functional ability and cultural background, or whether you have been out of work for a period of time.

At NTNU we want to increase the proportion of women in scientific positions. We have a number of measures to promote equality.

Salary and conditions

In the position of PhD Candidate, code 1017, your gross salary will normally be NOK  536 200,-  per annum depending on qualifications and seniority. A 2% statutory contribution to the State Pension Fund is deducted from the salary. 

The employment period is 3 years (a 4-year period with 25 % career promotion work may be considered). 

For employment as a PhD Candidate, it is a prerequisite that you gain admission to the PhD programme in Engineering within three months of your employment contract start date, and that you participate in an organized doctoral programme throughout the period of employment.

As an employee at NTNU, it is important that you keep yourself up to date with academic and organizational changes and adapt to them.

For the necessary academic and social interaction, it is a prerequisite that you are physically present and available to the institution on a daily basis.

The appointment is carried out in accordance with the principles of the State Employees Act, and Export control (legislation that regulates the export of knowledge, technology and services). Candidates who, after assessment of the application and attachments, are considered to be in conflict with the criteria in the latter act, will not be able to be employed.

About the application

The attachments (including a description of your scientific work) must accompany the application as these documents form the basis of the application assessment. The documents must be in Norwegian/a Scandinavian language or English.

Please note: the application will only be assessed on the basis of the information we have received by the application deadline. Therefore, make sure that your application clearly shows how your skills and experience meet the criteria described above. The application and all attachments must be sent electronically via Jobbnorge.no. If you are invited to an interview, you must bring certified copies of certificates The application must include:

• Transcripts and diplomas for Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees
• CV 
• Copy of Master’s thesis. If you have recently submitted your Master’s thesis, you can attach a draft of the thesis. Documentation of a completed Master’s degree must be presented before taking up the position.
• Short letter of motivation
• Possibly publications etc. other relevant research work
• Possibly certificates
• Names and contact information of three relevant referees

If all, or parts, of your education has been taken abroad, we also ask you to attach documentation of the scope and quality of your entire education, both Bachelor’s and Master’s education, in addition to other higher education. If your institution uses “diploma supplement” (normal for most European institutions), you must attach this. A description of the documentation required can also be found here. If you already have a statement from Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir), please attach this as well. 

Joint works will be considered. If it is difficult to identify your contribution to joint work, you must attach a brief description of your participation.

When assessing the best qualified, we emphasize necessary qualifications such as education, experience and personal suitability. Motivation for the position, ambitions and potential for research will also count when assessing the candidates.

NTNU recognizes a wide range of academic contributions and has committed itself to The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment and CoARA (responsible assessment of research and recognition of a greater breadth of academic contributions in accordance with NTNU’s social mission).

General information

A public list of applicants with name, age, job title and municipality of residence is prepared after the application deadline. If you wish to be exempt from entry on the public applicant list, this must be justified. Assessment will be made in accordance with current legislation. You will be notified if the exemption is not granted.

If you think this position looks interesting and in line with your qualifications, you are welcome to apply.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Associate Professor Francesco Mirko Massaro, e-mail: francesco.m.massaro@ntnu.no. If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Kristine Grønvold, e-mail: kristine.gronvold@ntnu.no. 
 

Application deadline: 24.04.2025

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For practical information about working at NTNU, please visit this webpage. 
 

The city of Trondheim is a modern European city with a rich cultural scene. Trondheim is the tech capital of Norway with a population of 200,000. The Norwegian welfare state, including healthcare, schools, kindergartens and overall equality, is probably the best of its kind in the world. Professional subsidized day-care for children is easily available. Furthermore, Trondheim offers great opportunities for education (including international schools) and possibilities to enjoy nature, culture and family life and has low crime rates and clean air quality.