JOB DESCRIPTION

Clays are key constituents of the subsurface, with critical roles in geotechnical engineering, environmental engineering, and geological processes. Their behaviour is governed by interactions between nanometre-sized clay minerals and pore water, yet these interactions remain poorly understood across scales. A defining feature of clays is their high specific surface area and charged surfaces, which cause water to adsorb strongly near mineral interfaces. This bound water exhibits altered properties—higher viscosity, lower mobility—than bulk water, influencing how clays deform over time under load.
This time-dependent (or “delayed") mechanical behaviour is a major uncertainty in predicting the long-term performance of clay-based barriers, foundations, and geological repositories. Despite decades of study, the fundamental coupling between mineral-fluid interactions and mechanical response is not well captured in current models. A core challenge is the lack of experimental tools that probe the relevant scales—from atomic to macroscopic—while replicating in-situ stress and hydration conditions.

This PhD project will address this gap through an integrated, multi-scale approach. The candidate will combine:

• Extensive characterisation of clay mineralogy and microstructure,
• NMR relaxometry to differentiate bound and mobile water populations,
• Mechanical testing under controlled hydration and loading, and
• Molecular dynamics simulations to resolve fluid-mineral interactions at the atomic scale.

These tools will be used in concert to unravel how water redistribution under stress affects the mechanical evolution of clays over time. A key goal is to identify the physicochemical parameters that govern delayed deformation and use these to inform constitutive models with improved predictive power.
This research will generate fundamental insights into the mechanics of clay–water systems, with broad relevance across geo-environmental engineering, subsurface engineering, and geotechnical engineering. By linking micro-scale processes to macro-scale behaviour, the project aims to set new standards in the modelling and interpretation of clay behaviour.
This position is part of the VIDI project “DELAY: the Dynamic Equilibrium of water in cLAYs and its impact on the time-dependent material behaviour” funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The successful PhD candidate will join a dynamic research team at TU Delft, working on the multi-physics and multi-scale behaviour of clays with applications in geoenvironmental and geotechnical engineering. The position includes close collaboration with Prof. Jean-Michel Pereira and Prof. Laurent Brochard (École des Ponts ParisTech – Institut Polytechnique de Paris), including regular research visits. Accordingly, the PhD will be jointly supervised by Dr. Anne-Catherine Dieudonné, Prof. Jean-Michel Pereira and Prof. Laurent Brochard, offering a strong international and interdisciplinary environment for scientific and personal growth.

Please refer the Job description for details