PhD position on digital twins for modelling and forecasting induced seismicity

Position PhD-student

Irène Curie Fellowship No

Department(s) Applied Physics and Science Education

FTE 1,0

Date off 19/12/2024

Reference number V34.7871

Job description

Are you inspired by (analogies between) the physics of soft-matter systems and the phenomenology of (induced) seismicity?  
Are you fascinated by the complex physics of stabilized emulsions?  
Are you passionate about programming and high-performance computing?  
Are you eager to collaborate with geophysics colleagues and to analyse field data?  

We are looking for a motivated PhD candidate that will advance the fundamental understanding on the physics of dense stabilized emulsions to develop quantitative analogues for (induced) seismicity.

Injecting or extracting fluids into the shallow subsurface carries the risk of induced seismicity. An explicit multi-physics system to model fluid-migration induced seismicity is currently not within reach due to the complexity of the phenomena involved. In this project your will contribute to build a digital twin for induced seismicity based on a numerical model of soft-glass dynamics.

You will build on some preparatory works [1-6], showing as a proof-of-concept that a soft-glass, forced below yield stress, follows stick-slip dynamics and closely mimics the empirical laws observed for tectonic seismicity (Gutenberg-Richter law, Omori’s law, interevent time distribution). The model needs to be tuned to a specific field situation where induced seismicity is occurring. This is the central part of this project. Once tuned, the digital twin will replicate what is happening in the field.  Further, once tuned, different fluid migration scenarios can be tested to explore, for example, which protocols may produce induced seismicity with the steepest possible Gutenberg-Richter slope.

Deeper understanding of seismicity may have an important societal impact.  It can provide stakeholders with a tool to control induced seismicity due to fluid movement in the near subsurface and it may support the possibility to forecast seismic hazard.

The two PhD projects will focus on:

• Modelling the statistics of induced seismicity.
• Modelling the spatial distribution of seismicity.

Benzi, R., Kumar, P., Toschi, F., & Trampert, J. (2016). Earthquake statistics and plastic events in soft-glassy materials. Geophysical Supplements to the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 207(3), 1667-1674.

Kumar, P., Korkolis, E., Benzi, R., Denisov, D., Niemeijer, A., Schall, P., Toschi, F., Trampert, J. (2020). On interevent time distributions of avalanche dynamics. Scientific reports, 10(1), 626.

Kumar, P., Benzi, R., Trampert, J., & Toschi, F. (2020). A multi-component lattice Boltzmann approach to study the causality of plastic events. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 378(2175), 20190403.

Trampert, J., Benzi, R., & Toschi, F. (2022). Implications of the statistics of seismicity recorded within the Groningen gas field. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences, 101, e9.

Kumar, P., Benzi, R., Trampert, J., & Toschi, F. (2023). Direct observations of causal links in plastic events and relevance to earthquake seismology. Physical Review Research, 5(3), 033211.

Kumar, P. P. (2021). Statistical studies on a soft-glass for applications in seismology. [Phd Thesis] Eindhoven University of Technology https://research.tue.nl/en/publications/statistical-studies-on-a-soft-glass-for-applications-in-seismolog

Job requirements

• We are looking for an enthusiastic and highly motivated PhD-students with a solid background in fluid dynamics, statistical physics, computational physics and high-performance computing.
• A master’s degree (or an equivalent university degree) in (applied) physics, mechanical engineering or related subjects.
• A research oriented attitude. 
• Knowledge of computational (fluid dynamics) methods and parallel (GPU) programming are an asset.
• Ability to work in a team. 
• Fluent in spoken and written English.  

Conditions of employment

• A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an interdisciplinary setting and within an international network. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station. In addition, we offer you:
• Full-time employment for four years, with an intermediate evaluation (go/no-go) after nine months. You will spend 10% of your employment on teaching tasks.
• Salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, paid pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale P (min. €2,872 max. €3,670).
• A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%.
• High-quality training programs and other support to grow into a self-aware, autonomous scientific researcher. At TU/e we challenge you to take charge of your own learning process.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.
• An allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.
• A Staff Immigration Team and a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) for international candidates.

Information and application

More information  
Do you recognize yourself in this profile and would you like to know more?  
Please contact the hiring manager prof. F. (Federico) Toschi, f.toschi@tue.nl, Department of Applied Physics, group Fluids and Flows https://www.tue.nl/en/research/research-groups/fluids-and-flows/.

Visit our website for more information about the application process or the conditions of employment. You can also contact HR Services, HRServices.Flux@tue.nl.

Please visit www.tue.nl/jobs to find out more about working at TU/e! 

Application 
We invite you to submit a complete application by using the 'apply now'-button on this page.  
The application should include a: 

• Cover letter in which you describe your motivation and qualifications for the position. 
• Curriculum vitae, including a list of your publications and the contact information of three references. 
• Brief description of your MSc thesis. 

We do not respond to applications that are sent to us in a different way. 

Please keep in mind you can upload only 5 documents up to 2 MB each. If necessary, please combine files. 

We look forward to your application and will screen it as soon as we have received it. Screening will continue until the position has been filled.