Research Fellow in Geotechnical Engineering: ROBOCONE Project

Research Fellow in Geotechnical Engineering - ROBOCONE Project

This is a fixed term contract Post-doctoral Research Fellow position until 30/06/2025, working on the ROBOCONE project, based at the University of Southampton.

This is an excellent opportunity to join a major new research project comprised of teams at three universities, working alongside researchers with complementary skills in robotics and fieldwork, and a range of industry partners and international collaborators. You will join our team to support the development of robotic new geotechnical site investigation tool concepts. Your role will focus primarily on numerical modelling, with additional involvement in physical testing in the laboratory and the field and responsible for developing numerical models of the in-situ tools and exploring methods for interpreting soil parameters from in-situ measurements.

ROBOCONE is a multi-disciplinary research project, in collaboration with research teams at University of Bristol and Trinity College Dublin, aiming to advance the use of robotics in civil engineering site investigation. The project is focused on new tools for advanced characterisation of static and cyclic soil properties and their use in modern geotechnical infrastructure design.

This role provides an opportunity to conduct research at the intersection of robotics, infrastructure resilience and geotechnical site characterisation.

You will be based at the new National Infrastructure Laboratory on the University's Boldrewood Innovation Campus, and you will be embedded within professional networks addressing the challenges of onshore and offshore infrastructure and decarbonisation as part of the Southampton Marine & Maritime Institute (SMMI) and the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities (UKCRIC). We offer an attractive research environment on our new Boldrewood campus, the latest facilities and access to a variety of staff development opportunities.

More information about the project can be found here: https://www.researchgate.net/project/ROBOCONE-intelligent-robotics-for-next-generation-ground-investigation-and-design

To be successful you will have a PhD* or equivalent professional qualifications and experience in a subject area relevant to the project, e.g. civil engineering, geotechnical engineering, solid mechanics or computational mechanics. In addition, you will have experience in geotechnical numerical modelling.

We believe equality and diversity are fundamental to making the University of Southampton a vibrant, proud and successful organisation. A diverse workforce, with people from different racial, educational and social backgrounds and a range of ages, opens up a wealth of possibilities for Southampton. The University holds an Athena SWAN silver award in recognition of its' continued commitment to improving equality for women in science and engineering. We will give due consideration to applicants that wish to work flexibly including part-time.

You are invited to contact Prof. David White ( david.white@soton.ac.uk ) for further information about this position in advance of submitting your application.

* Applications will be considered from candidates who are working towards or nearing completion of a relevant PhD qualification. The title of Research Fellow will be applied upon completion of PhD. Prior to the qualification being awarded the title of Senior Research Assistant will be given.

**subject to qualifying criteria

We aim to be an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all sections of the community.