PhD Position in the field of Geothermal Research

KIT, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, strongly expands its geothermal program. The division of Geothermal Energy & Reservoir Technology focuses on scientific and technological challenges of using geothermal energy. Projects are often conducted in an international context and are expanding internationally from the local Upper Rhine Graben. Important studies in the context of the Helmholtz large infrastructure projects GeoLaB and DeepStor are under way. GeoLaB foresees to construct an underground research laboratory in a crystalline mining facility used to quantify geothermal relevant coupled processes. DeepStor will test high temperature storage in a 1 km deep well on the KIT campus. Both projects are accompanied by extensive mechanical and geochemical studies and will lead towards unique benchmark datasets extending interpretation of geothermal reservoirs.

An enthusiastic PhD candidate is invited to join our research team to continue our numerical developments on a Multi-Physics Platform which is well-established for simulating complex laboratory and operational data. We envisage to further develop this platform to model coupled geomechanical and geochemical processes serving as a key instrument to design the large-scale experiments in GeoLaB and DeepStor. The field of work includes

• geochemistry and / or geomechanics study;
• model development using C++;
• general organizational tasks of the division.

We offer the opportunity to shape new large-scale geoscientific projects and to cooperate in an international highly visible scientific team. Opportunities for your own scientific qualifications are provided.

Persönliche Qualifikation

The ideal candidate should hold a master degree in geophysics, petroleum or computational engineering, geosciences, or fluid mechanics with knowledge of physical processes and experience on the elaboration of numerical codes and models using C++. Other relevant backgrounds are also welcome to apply. We expect skills in scientific writing and a keen interest in working closely with our international team. Readiness for acquiring the German language (in spoken and written form) is indispensable.

Salary

Salary category  TV-L13, depending on the fulfillment of professional and personal requirements.

Organisationseinheit

Contract duration

fixed-term employment contract for 3 years

Application up to

April 30, 2024

Contact person in line-management

For further information, please contact Dr. Yangyang Qiao, email: yangyang.qiao@kit.edu.

Applications should contain

• a letter of application,
• curriculum vitae
• diplomas and transcripts
• a list of any publications
• references