Doctoral fellow - Department of Structural Engineering and Building Materials

Organisation/Company Ghent University Research Field Engineering » Civil engineering Engineering » Materials engineering Engineering » Other Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Country Belgium Final date to receive applications 15 Jan 2026 - 22:59 (UTC) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - ERC Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Department TW14 - Department of Structural Engineering and Building Materials

Degree Master degree in a relevant engineering or science discipline

Occupancy rate 100%

Vacancy type Research staff

Ghent University is a world of its own. Employing more than 15,000 people, it is actively involved in education and research, management and administration, as well as technical and social service provision. The Fire Safety Science and Engineering research cluster at Ghent University is at the forefront of fire safety research.

The project “AFireTest” is a 1.5 million EUR project funded by the European Research Council (ERC), which started in September 2023. The goal is to develop the next generation of fire testing. Current fire testing is based on standardized tests which do not provide in‑depth understanding of material behavior and the impact of design choices on the fire risk in buildings.

Within the new concept of fire testing (Adaptive Fire Testing), test specifications will be set with a specific goal of maximizing the net information gained from the test, taking into account (i) the current state of knowledge; (ii) the goal of the assessment (e.g., material understanding vs building risk evaluation); and (iii) the costs of performing the test (including environmental costs).

1 PhD position is currently open. Applications by exceptional post‑doctoral researchers will also be considered.

The PhD position will focus on “Physics-based surrogate modelling for fire safety applications”. Physics-based surrogate modelling incorporates physical principles into the learning process to maintain physical consistency outside the training domain. This PhD research is envisioned to result in a breakthrough in the application of machine learning methods to fire engineering problems, by ensuring compatibility with physical constraints. A special focus will be on the adaptation of physics-informed surrogate modelling to fire risk assessment of single buildings and building portfolios.

• You hold a Master’s degree (preferably) in computer science engineering, fire safety engineering, structural engineering or a related technical discipline
• Applicants should have experience with (or should demonstrate the capability to learn): (i) fire safety science and engineering, or structural engineering; (ii) machine learning; (iii) probabilistic risk evaluation.

• We offer a full‑time position as a doctoral fellow, consisting of an initial period of 12 months, which - after a positive evaluation, will be extended to a total maximum of 48 months.
• Your contract will start on 01/03/2026 at the earliest
• The fellowship amount is 100% of the net salary of an AAP member in equal family circumstances. The individual fellowship amount is determined by Team Personnel Administration based on family status and seniority. A grant that meets the conditions and criteria of the regulations for doctoral fellowships is considered free of personal income tax.  for more information about our salary scales
• All Ghent University staff members enjoy a number of benefits, such as a wide range of training and education opportunities, 36 days of holiday leave (on an annual basis for a full-time job) supplemented by annual fixed bridge days, bicycle allowance and eco vouchers.  for a complete overview of all the staff benefits.
• Transcript of records (translated in English, if the original is not in Dutch or English)
• 2 references (previous supervisors or lecturers who can be contacted to elaborate on their experiences working with you)
• Language certificate / IELTS score

As Ghent University maintains an equal opportunities and diversity policy, everyone is encouraged to apply for this position.