PhD in Data-driven Design and Analysis of Architected Materials

DTU Engineering Technology is offering a 3-year PhD position on data-driven design and analysis of architected materials. Cellular architected materials, such as regular microlattices and stochastic foams, exploit the programmed distribution of matter to attain superior mechanical, acoustic, and thermal properties compared to those of traditional solids, and have thus shown unlimited potential for sustainable manufacturing, resilient structures, and bioengineering. Tuning the meso-structure of these material systems facilitates a "materials-by-design" approach and the synthesis of novel architectures with tailored functionalities. The vast number of morphological parameters, however, is a significant hurdle that often leads to ad-hoc design approaches, based on approximate scaling laws or repetitive trial-and-error attempts to achieve desired properties. This project’s goal is to employ virtual structure generation, mechanics, and interpretable learning techniques to develop a rigorous, data-centric framework for the design and analysis of ordered and disordered architected materials. The research will be supervised by Associate Professor Stavros Gaitanaros.

Responsibilities and qualifications

We are looking for a motivated and ambitious PhD student, ideally with prior experience with solid mechanics, materials, numerical techniques, and machine learning algorithms. Your overall focus will be to strengthen the department’s competences within advanced materials and new technologies. You will work with colleagues at DTU Engineering Technology and DTU Construct, as well as academic partners abroad.

Your primary responsibilities will include:

• Generative design of cellular architected materials
• Multi-fidelity computational modeling
• Graph representation learning and explainability
• Active dissemination of the results in scientific articles
• Participation in national and international conferences
• Assisting with supervising B. Eng., B.Sc., and M.Sc. students.

The ideal candidate is expected to have experience in several of these areas:

• Computational geometry
• Solid mechanics
• Geometric deep learning
• Computational modelling - finite element analysis

You must have a two-year master's degree (120 ECTS points) or a similar degree with an academic level equivalent to a two-year master's degree.

Approval and Enrolment

The scholarship for the PhD degree is subject to academic approval, and the candidate will be enrolled in one of the general degree programmes at DTU. For information about our enrolment requirements and the general planning of the PhD study programme, please see DTU’s rules for the PhD education.

We offer DTU is a leading technical university globally recognized for the excellence of its research, education, innovation and scientific advice. We offer a rewarding and challenging job in an international environment. We strive for academic excellence in an environment characterized by collegial respect and academic freedom tempered by responsibility.

Salary and appointment terms

The appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Please see DTU’s salary structure for scientific staff: www.inside.dtu.dk/en/human-resources/during-employment/salary/salary-structures. The period of employment is 3 years. The expected starting date is 2027-03-01 (or according to mutual agreement). The position is a full-time position. You can read more about career paths at DTU here.

Further information

Further information may be obtained from Associate Professor Stavros Gaitanaros (staga@dtu.dk). You can read more about DTU Engineering Technology at www.engtech.dtu.dk. If you are applying from abroad, you may find useful information on working in Denmark and at DTU at DTU - Moving to Denmark. Furthermore, you have the option of joining our monthly free seminar PhD relocation to Denmark and startup Zoom seminar for all questions regarding the practical matters of moving to Denmark and working as a PhD at DTU.

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, disability, race, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply. As DTU works with research in critical technology, which is subject to special rules for security and export control, open-source background checks may be conducted on qualified candidates for the position.

About DTU Engineering Technology

We work at the forefront of university-industry collaboration and develop tools and methods for technology implementation. We are organized in eight sections all focused on technology implementation, engineering technology and engineering education within a wide range of engineering fields. The Section for Mechanical Technology is striving to be a globally recognized player within the fields of design, adva