PostDoc – Computational mathematics, geoscience/ geothermal, U. of Bergen, Norway

Bergen, Norway (source: flickr/ Miguel Virkkunen Carvalho, creative commons)

Alexander Richter 31 Jan 2021

The University of Bergen in Norway has published two job openings, one for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow position.
The Department of Mathematics has a vacancy for a 3-year postdoc position. The position is part of the ERC Consolidator Grant “Mathematical and Numerical Modelling of Process-Structure Interaction in Fractured Geothermal Systems” (MaPSI), and it will also be integrated in the recently established VISTA Center for Modeling of Coupled Subsurface Dynamics (VISTA CSD, https://www.uib.no/en/vista-csd). The center will involve approximately 40 people, including faculty, researchers, postdocs and PhD students. MSc students will also be integrated in research activities.

In the development and production of high-temperature geothermal resources, large, induced gradients in pressure and temperature during injection operations results in complex coupled processes. This includes boiling of geothermal fluids and deformation of the fractured rock, coupled dynamics that are currently not well understood. This provides a core motivation as well as challenging test cases for the mathematical and numerical developments in the MaPSI project. MaPSI has as its main objective to provide mathematical models and simulation technology required to assess subsurface process-structure interaction in the context of hydraulic and thermal stimulation in development and production of high-temperature geothermal resources.

The successful candidate will contribute to research activities in the MaPSI project. This includes development of numerical approaches to enable modelling of geothermal reservoir case-studies for multiphase flow and phase-change in thermo-poroelastic media with fractures that may slip, deform, and propagate. Software development in the project will expand on the open-source software framework PorePy (github.com/pmgbergen/porepy), which already has strong capabilities in modelling of coupled process-structure interaction in fractured porous media. Tasks will include development of mathematical models and development and implementation of numerical methods. The candidate will also contribute to the interdisciplinary goals of the project and take part in interdisciplinary collaboration. The candidate is expected to take part in advising of master students.

Qualifications and personal qualities:

• Applicants must hold a Norwegian PhD or an equivalent degree in applied and computational mathematics or scientific computing, or, alternatively, in computational physics or computational geoscience. PhD-students may apply if the defence of the PhD-thesis is completed by 1 May 2021. It is a condition of employment that the PhD has been awarded.
• Applicants must have research experience in mathematical modelling, partial differential equations, numerical analysis, and related software development.
• Applicants must have research experience in numerical methods for flow in porous media and/or geomechanics.
• It is an advantage for applicants to have experience in numerical methods for contact mechanics and/or hydro-mechanical processes in porous media.
• It is an advantage for applicants to have experience in collaborative development of software platforms for computational science.
• It is an advantage for applicants to have experience in interdisciplinary collaboration in the geosciences and in integration of field data in simulation of subsurface processes.
• Applicants must have ability to work independently and in a structured manner and to cooperate with others.
• Applicants must have very good English skills, written and oral.

In assessing the candidates, a review of both the quality and the breadth of the candidate’s research will be conducted. Personal and relational qualities will be emphasized.

For further details about the position, see the full announcement below, or contact Professor and Principal Investigator Inga Berre, inga.berre@uib.no

Source: University of Bergen via JobNorge