Researcher in Sustainable and Cement- Marine Materials

The Department of Manufacturing and Civil Engineering has a vacancy for a

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Are you ready to take your research career to the next level while helping develop a new generation of low-carbon marine materials? We offer a two-year researcher position in an international and interdisciplinary project at the frontier of circular materials, marine infrastructure and ecosystem restoration.

The researcher will conduct independent, high-quality research and take a leading role in integrating material development, characterization, performance assessment and partner activities within HAPMarine. You will work closely with the project manager, the HAPMarine PhD candidate, technical staff, and national and international research partners.

The position is full-time for a period of 2 years and is conditional on external funding from the Research Council of Norway. The workplace is NTNU campus Gjøvik. Your immediate leader is the Head of the Department.

About the HAPMarine project:

HAPMarine addresses two interconnected challenges: degradation of coastal ecosystems and continued reliance on carbon-intensive concrete in marine infrastructure. The project develops circular-economy routes for upcycling Norway's calcium-rich waste streams, particularly aquaculture shells and demolition-concrete fines, into cement-free, bio receptive, low-carbon and mechanically robust materials.

The research links material chemistry and mineralization, forming and curing, multiscale characterization, mechanical and durability performance, environmental compatibility, and laboratory and field validation. The project involves partners with complementary expertise, including NIVA and the University of Tokyo, and aims to deliver new material concepts for marine habitat restoration, including cold-water coral reef applications.

The successful candidate will conduct and coordinate research primarily within the following areas:

• Lead the development and optimization of cement-free marine materials derived from calcium-rich waste streams, including aquaculture shells and recycled concrete fines.
• Design and implement experimental programmes covering raw-material preparation, activation and mineralization, forming, curing, carbonation and hybrid material concepts.
• Establish process-structure-property-performance relationships through physical, mechanical, transport and durability testing.
• Conduct and coordinate advanced material characterization and quantitative interpretation, using relevant techniques such as XRD, SEM-EDS, FTIR or Raman spectroscopy, TGA, porosimetry and micro-CT.
• Assess water stability, CO2 uptake, ion release and leaching, and durability under relevant marine exposure conditions; collaborate with ecology partners on bio receptivity and field validation.
• Develop mechanistic understanding and, where relevant, numerical or data-driven models for process optimization and performance prediction.
• Coordinate research tasks, data management, milestones, deliverables and technical reporting in collaboration with project partners.
• Co-supervise the HAPMarine PhD candidate and master's students, and contribute to laboratory planning, training and safe working practices.
• Lead and contribute to peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, stakeholder communication and other dissemination and…