PhD Position in Probabilistic Modelling and Reliability Assessment of Metocean Loads

Help shape the future of offshore structures' safety! Join a PhD project advancing how wave conditions are modelled to design safer, more reliable structures.

PhD Position in Probabilistic Modelling and Reliability Assessment of Metocean Loads

Job description

Ocean waves and wind are usually the dominant design loads for coastal, flood protection, and offshore structures. Safety standards to design these structures are based on risk-based approaches where the design load conditions are derived from statistical analysis. Traditional climatic analysis relies on univariate distributions. However, several variables are usually required to characterize those design conditions (e.g.: wave height and wave period), which are physically linked and, thus, correlation exists between those variables and needs to be taken into account in the statistical analysis.

During the last years, advances have been made using highly flexible copula-based models, namely vine-copulas. However, questions remain regarding their application, specifically in the model selection and performance assessment.

This PhD position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research in the safety of structures under wave loading, and probabilistic modelling of metocean variables. In this project, you will work on better characterizing the probabilistic dependence between metocean variables, understanding ocean dynamics through multivariate statistics, and embedding the generated knowledge in the design and safety assessments of structures under wave loading. You will also perform simulations on computational statistics with High Performance Computing to further develop the mathematical methods, derive implications for design and draw recommendations.

You will join the department of Hydraulic Engineering at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, and Geosciences of TU Delft as a full-time (1 fte) PhD candidate. We offer a rich international research environment with access to industrial networks to ensure your research contributes to practice while having academic impact.

Job requirements

As a successful applicant, you hold a MSc degree in a relevant field (hydraulic engineering, offshore engineering, applied mathematics, applied physics or similar). Ideally, you are already familiar with the topics of ocean waves, reliability assessment of coastal and offshore structures and/or probabilistic analysis and have some programming experience (i.e. Python) or are very motivated to acquire strong programming skills.

Conditions of employment

Doctoral candidates will be offered a 4-year period of employment in principle, but in the form of 2 employment contracts. An initial 1.5 year contract with an official go/no go progress assessment within 15 months. Followed by an additional contract for the remaining 2.5 years assuming everything goes well and performance requirements are met.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, increasing from €3059 - €3881 gross per month, from the first year to the fourth year based on a fulltime contract (38 hours), plus 8% holiday allowance and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3%.

As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the TU Delft Graduate School. The TU Delft Graduate School provides an inspiring research environment with an excellent team of supervisors, academic staff and a mentor. The Doctoral Education Programme is aimed at developing your transferable, discipline-related and research skills.

The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, discounts on health insurance, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

Delft University of Technology is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society.

Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences

The Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences (CEG) is committed to international research and education in the field of civil engineering, applied earth sciences, traffic and transport, water technology, and delta technology. Research projects are conducted in close cooperation with a wide range of research institutions.