NEU Vollzeit Forschung und Lehre The Gips-Schüle Chair for Sustainable Systems Engineering is hiring a Doctoral Researcher within the Marie-Curie Doctoral Training Network "LEGEND"

• Bewerbungsfrist: 31. August 2026
• Veröffentlichungsdatum: 31. Juli 2026
• Eintrittstermin: 1. November 2026
• Arbeitsumfang: Fulltime position
• Kennziffer: 00005130

Beschreibung

Doctoral Researcher Position — Strain-Rate-Dependent Effects of Defects in Composite Materials

Host institution: University of Freiburg, Institute for Sustainable Systems Engineering (INATECH) Research group: Sustainable Engineering Materials / Dynamic Behaviour of Materials Supervisors: Dr. Georg Ganzenmüller and Prof. Stefan Hiermaier Network: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network "LEGEND" (Leading-Edge evaluation and GENeration of Defect-tolerance in composite structures) Contract: Full-time, 36 months Planned start date: October or November 2026

About the position

The University of Freiburg invites applications for a fully funded doctoral researcher position in experimental and computational mechanics of composite materials. The successful candidate will join the European training network LEGEND, which brings together universities, research and technology organisations, and leading aerospace and motorsport companies across six countries to advance the understanding and prediction of manufacturing defects in carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers.

Modern aircraft already use carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers for around half of their structural weight, yet their full potential remains untapped because designers must apply conservative safety margins to account for manufacturing defects whose consequences are not yet fully understood. This is especially true under high-rate loading, where almost no data exists for specimens containing controlled defects. The aim of this project is to close that gap.

Research objectives

The wider goal of this project

The broader purpose of this work is to understand and quantify how meso- and macro-scale manufacturing defects (for example voids, fibre misalignments, gaps and overlaps between fibre tows, and out-of-plane undulations) change the mechanical response of composites under high loading rates, a regime for which almost no data on defective material currently exists. The intended outcomes are a first-of-its-kind set of rate-dependent knock-down factors for the structural sizing of components driven by high-rate loads, and a validated rate-dependent material model. Together these support the network's larger ambition of replacing part of the costly physical qualification of new materials with trustworthy simulation. Several of these wider goals are reached jointly with partner institutions and with the other doctoral researchers in the network, rather than by the doctoral researcher alone.

What you will do as the doctoral researcher

Your own, hands-on responsibilities are experimental and computational:

• Plan and carry out quasi-static and high-rate mechanical testing of composite coupons containing controlled, embedded defects. Quasi-static tests come first, partly during a research visit to the University of Girona, as preparation for the more demanding high-rate tests. High-rate testing is performed at Freiburg using the Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar.
• Acquire and analyse X-ray and Synchrotron computed tomography images of the specimens, including in situ, time- and space-resolved imaging coupled with high-speed cameras, and segment these images to characterise the defects before and after loading.
• Calibrate and validate the existing state-of-the-art rate-dependent continuum damage mechanics material model against your own experimental data, reconstructing the measured defect geometry within the finite element model.
• Analyse the data statistically to derive defect-specific, rate-dependent knock-down factors, correlating loading rate, defect type, and coupon or defect size with the observed change in mechanical response.

These activities are the substance of your doctorate, and they produce your direct contributions to the network's reporting on the characterisation of the effects of defects (specimen testing, non-destructive inspection, and data analysis across loading regimes) and on the validation of state-of-the-art material models.

What you contribute to as part of the team

Some objectives are pursued collaboratively, with your high-rate results forming one essential piece of a larger whole. In particular, the proposal of a common methodology toward the future standardisation of how knock-down factors are determined is a shared effort across the researchers working on quasi-static, high-rate, and fatigue loading; you contribute the high-rate perspective to that joint methodology rather than defining it alone. Likewise, your first-ever assessment of the rate dependency of defect knock-down factors feeds into the network's broader move toward qualification and certification by analysis.

By the end of the project, you will have produced an extensive dataset of dynamically characterised coupons with embedded defects, including segmented tomography images; a validated rate-dependent modelling approach; and methods to obtain defect-specific, probabilistic, rate-dependent knock-down factors.

What makes a doctorate within a Doctoral Network special

This is not an isolated thesis. As one of fourteen doctoral researchers recruited across the LEGEND network, you will pursue your own scientific project while contributing to a shared, ambitious goal that no single laboratory could reach alone. Your experimental data will feed directly into modelling work carried out by colleagues at partner universities, and your characterisation of defects will connect to inspection and certification efforts at the industrial partners. You will be embedded in a structured, network-wide training programme of dedicated events, summer-school-style courses, and conferences, complemented by training in transferable skills such as scientific writing, communication, entrepreneurship, and research ethics. You will spend several months on planned research visits ("secondments") at partner institutions, working hands-on within their teams and facilities. You will also benefit from a four-person supervisory board that combines academic and industrial expertise, and from a peer group of fellow doctoral researchers facing the same milestones at the same time. The result is an unusually international, interdisciplinary, and intersectoral doctoral experience, with strong exposure to both academic research and real industrial practice, and a professional network already in place by the time you graduate.

Planned research visits

As part of the network, you will undertake approximately six months of research visits at partner institutions:

• Instituto de Ciência e Inovação em Engenharia Mecânica e Engenharia Industrial, Porto, Portugal — manufacturing of composite specimens with embedded defects (around the first year of the project).
• University of Girona, Spain — quasi-static testing of coupons with embedded defects, and later calibration and validation of rate dependencies in the material model (during the second and third years).

Your profile

• A Master's degree (or an equivalent qualification giving access to doctoral studies) in mechanical, materials, or aerospace engineering, applied physics, computational mechanics, or a closely related field.
• A strong interest in bridging experimental mechanics and numerical simulation. Prior exposure to dynamic or impact testing, composite materials, image or tomography analysis, the finite element method, or scientific programming is an advantage but not a strict requirement.
• A collaborative mindset, curiosity, and willingness to travel for research visits and network events.
• Excellent command of written and spoken English. Knowledge of German is welcome but not required.

Eligibility — mobility rule

This position is funded under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, which apply a mobility condition. At the time of recruitment, you must not have resided or carried out your main activity (such as work or studies) in Germany for more than twelve months in the thirty-six months immediately before your start date. Short stays such as holidays are not counted. This rule is intended to support international mobility and applies regardless of your nationality.

Eligibility — doctoral candidate rule

To be eligible, you must be a doctoral candidate at the time of recruitment, meaning that you have not yet been awarded a doctoral degree. There is no nationality restriction and no upper age limit. If you obtain your doctorate before the start date, you would no longer be eligible for this position.

(Applicants are encouraged to confirm the exact eligibility and mobility conditions against the current Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks call documentation, as the precise wording is set by the European Commission.)

What we offer

• A fully funded, full-time three-year contract with a competitive salary and allowances in line with Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions rules. Marie Sklodowska-Curie PhDs are paid a Living Allowance of 4,010 €/month, adjusted for their host country, a Mobility Allowance of 710 €/month and, for researchers who have a family, a Family Allowance of 660 €/month resulting in the employer gross salary. All amounts are subject to employer and employee's t deductions and taxes. Family is defined as persons linked to the researcher by (i) marriage, or (ii) a relationship with equivalent status to a marriage recognised by the national legislation of the country of the beneficiary or of nationality of the researcher, or (iii) dependent children who are actually being maintained by the researcher.
• A vibrant, international research environment at one of Germany's leading research universities, with access to state-of-the-art dynamic testing and Synchrotron imaging facilities.
• Enrolment in the University of Freiburg doctoral programme, with relevant coursework in the dynamic behaviour of materials, advanced material testing and laboratory practice, computational engineering, composite materials, and the physics of failure.
• Structured supervision, a tailored career development plan, and a clear path toward a doctoral degree.

How to apply

Please submit a single document containing a motivation letter, a curriculum vitae, copies of relevant degree certificates and transcripts, and the contact details of at least two academic or professional references.

You must submit your application using Freiburg University's online application portal. Applications submitted via email or paper mail will not be considered.

Informal enquiries should be directed to Dr. Georg Ganzenmüller, Institute for Sustainable Systems Engineering, University of Freiburg.

The University of Freiburg is committed to equal opportunity and diversity and welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of gender, background, or nationality.

Funding is limited to 36 months. The salary will be determined in accordance with E13 TV-L.

We will be particularly pleased to receive applications from women for the position advertised here.

Bewerbung

Please send your application in English including supporting documents mentioned above citing the reference number 00005130, by 31. August 2026 at the latest. Please send your application to the following address in written or electronic form:

You must submit your application using Freiburg University's online application portal. Applications submitted via email or paper mail will not be considered.

For further information, please contact Mr. Georg Georg Clemens Ganzenmüllerm on the phone number +49 761 203-96784 or E-Mail georg.ganzenmueller@mail.inatech.uni-freiburg.de.