POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER IN AI - DRIVEN EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN OF MATERIALS FROM SECONDARY RESOURCES - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

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At the Faculty of Engineering and Science, Department of the Built Environment (AAU BUILD), a position as Postdoc within AI - Driven Experimental Design of Materials from Secondary Resources is open for appointment from 1 January 2026 or soon hereafter. The position is available for a period of 2 years.

The Villum Foundation has launched a record-breaking research grant of 1 billion DKK over the next ten years, with the goal to advance efforts towards a more sustainable built environment. The announced position is part of this venture, and the successful candidate will participate in the joint effort to achieve this goal.

Job description

The Department of the Built Environment focuses on the technical and scientific disciplines within the built environment. Research areas span from Indoor Environment and Energy Efficient buildings, Wind Turbines, Structural Design, Structural Materials, Geotechnical Engineering, Wave Energy to Traffic along with many other areas. The research is conducted in a national as well as an international research environment. The department takes on contract research for both public institutions and private companies. The research projects involve both theoretical research and in situ measurements along with laboratory experiments. As an employee at the Department of the Built Environment, you become a part of an international research environment, where focus is on innovation, knowledge sharing and interdisciplinary collaborations.

We are seeking a highly motivated postdoctoral researcher to join a cross-institutional, interdisciplinary project within the CEBE research program, financed by the Villum Foundation, focused on the sustainable reuse of decommissioned wind turbine blades - made from fiber-reinforced polymers composites (FRP) – repurposed for civil construction applications.

The project investigates two complementary reuse strategies:

• Repurposing of large blade segments into structural elements (e.g., beams, panels)
• Material recycling of shredded fibers for use as fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) aggregate or fiber reinforcement in new FRP composites

The work is both experimental and analytical in a multi-scale evaluation setup, including material characterization, mechanical and durability testing, and integration with advanced machine learning models.

The postdoc will collaborate closely with CEBE’s parallel work packages. Experimental and analytical data generated in this project will feed into a central model (developed in a parallel CEBE work package) linking the parameters of constitutive material model to physical and chemical properties across scales supported by AI, hybrid testing and digital twins .

In addition, the project interfaces with a probabilistic modeling framework (also developed in a parallel CEBE work package) to quantify material variability and ensure structural reliability for real-world adoption.

This is a high-impact position at the intersection of AI, materials science, and structural engineering - combining lab-based research, data-driven design, and full-scale prototyping to advance circular economy goals in the built environment.

A prerequisite for a successful application is to demonstrate scientific expertise and experience within most of the areas below:

• Experience with experimental work in all scales, from material samples to full-scale structures.
• Material characterization techniques
• Structural design and mechanical behavior of materials
• Interdisciplinary collaboration across experimental and computational research teams
• Scientific communication and dissemination (e.g., journal publications, technical reporting, stakeholder engagement)
• Experience or strong interest in developing AI driven applications and/or machine learning in materials science or engineering design (e.g., regression models, performance prediction, data analysis)

In addition, the ideal candidate has:

• Excellent English language skills (both oral and written).
• Experience in a structural laboratory with hands-on experience in experiment development and testing,
• Data acquisition knowledge (data loggers, sensor connection, and sensor functionality.)
• Experience in scientific paper writing

Limited teaching can be expected within the research area (and in other study programs at the University).

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Qualification requirements
Appointment as postdoc requires academic qualifications at PhD level.

How to apply
Your application must include the following:

• Application, stating reasons for applying, qualifications in relation to the position, and intentions and visions for the position
• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Diplomas (master's degree diploma and PhD diploma)
• List of publications, with an indication of the attached publications that you wish to be taken into account in the assessment. You may attach a maximum of ten publications. If you are applying for a position at The Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH), you must submit a co-author statement, see template for co-author statement
• Documentation of teaching qualifications. Depending on which faculty you are applying for employment, please see guidelines for teaching portfolio at The Technical Faculty of IT and Design, The Faculty of Engineering and Science and The Faculty of Medicine or guidelines for teaching portfolio at The Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. If this is not enclosed, the applicant must enclose the reasons for this .
• Dissemination qualifications, including participation on committees or boards, participation in organisations etc.
• Additional qualifications in relation to the position
• References/recommendations

You can read more about the requirements for your application here.

The application must be submitted via Aalborg University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aalborg University's website.

Aalborg University wants to reflect the surrounding society and has diversity as a core value. Therefore, everyone, regardless of personal background and orientation, is encouraged to apply for the position.

Do you have any questions?
If you have any questions about the position, you are more than welcome to contact us. You will find contact persons at the bottom of the jobpost.

***Describe when interviews are held, whether testing, case or similar is used.***

Further information
Read more about our recruitment process here

The appointment process at Aalborg University involves a shortlisting process. You can read more about the shortlisting and appointment process here.

The hiring process at Aalborg University may include a risk assessment as a tool to identify potential risks associated with new hires, ensuring the safety, compliance, and integrity of the workplace.

Salary and terms of employment
The employment is in accordance with the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities (the Appointment Order) and the Ministerial Order on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities (in Danish) and protocol on certain terms of employment of academic staff at universities (in Danish).

Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with the collective agreement between the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations and the state (AC collective agreement) (only in Danish) and protocol on certain terms of employment of academic staff at universities (only in Danish).