All information about the position can be found here: PhD Candidate in Computational Porous Media Physics (302781) | NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Apply only via jobbnorge here: PhD Candidate in Computational Porous Media Physics (302781) | NTNU - Norwegian University of Science and Technology

About the position

Are you motivated to take a step towards a doctorate and open exciting career opportunities? As a PhD Candidate with us, you will work to achieve your doctorate, and at the same time gain valuable experience that qualifies you for a further career in higher education and research, in and outside academia.

We have a vacancy for a PhD candidate in Computational Porous Media Physics at PoreLab, Department of Physics, NTNU. The appointment has a duration of 3 years with the possibility of extension for teaching duties in agreement with the department. The PhD candidate should start no later than October 2026.

The PhD Supervisor will be Associate Professor Gaute Linga, PoreLab / Department of Physics. 

Your immediate leader will be the Head of Department.

About PoreLab

PoreLab is a Norwegian Center of Excellence under the auspices of the Research Council of Norway. It was created in 2017 and it is situated at NTNU in Trondheim and the University of Oslo.

PoreLab is an interdisciplinary center with joint efforts in theory, computer simulations and experiments, both in fundamental and in more applied directions. The center works to advance the understanding of porous media by developing theories, principles, tools and methods to replace ad hoc approaches to porous media with a fundamental understanding of porous media with relevance in biology, chemistry, geology and geophysics based on fluid mechanics, non-equilibrium thermodynamics and statistical mechanics.

Duties of the position

The PhD project will focus on uncovering the emergent physical mechanisms driving chemical transport, mixing, and reactions in multiphase flow through porous media. You will develop and apply computational techniques and theoretical models to resolve and study interface motion, flow dynamics and solute mixing across a broad range of 2D and 3D porous media. In addition to fundamental insights, the output of the project will be large-scale flow models with improved predictive power, relevant to contaminant spreading and CO2 sequestration in porous media.

The position will benefit from the expertise and computational facilities at both hubs of PoreLab, NTNU and UiO, as well as our international network of collaborators.

The candidate is expected to develop and apply computational fluid dynamics methods for pore-scale multiphase flow using high-performance computing facilities, and to develop robust data analysis routines to process the simulations results. Further, the candidate is expected to contribute to developing theoretical models to describe and rationalize the findings. The candidate will interact directly with ongoing experimental work. The candidate will also engage in outreach activities connected to the research at PoreLab and the Department of Physics.

Core duties of the position include:

• Complete the doctoral education until obtaining a doctorate
• Carry out research of high quality within the framework described above
• Academic publications and popular science dissemination
• Participate in PoreLab’s activities both in Trondheim and Oslo
• Participate in international conferences and research stays at foreign educational institutions

Be prepared for changes to your work duties after employment.

Required selection criteria

• You must have a relevant Master's degree in Physics, Fluid Mechanics, Applied Mathematics, or equivalent. Your course of study must correspond to a five-year Norwegian course, where 120 credits have been obtained at master's level. Master's students can apply, but the master's degree must be obtained and documented before starting the position.
• You must have a strong academic background from your previous studies and have an average grade from your Master's degree study, or equivalent education, which is equal to B or better compared to NTNU's grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic foundation. If you have a weaker grade background, you may be considered if you can document that you are particularly suitable for a PhD education.
• You must meet the requirements for admission to the Faculty's Doctoral Programme.
• Good oral and written skills in English.
• You must have experience in computational physics, scientific computing, or computational science.
• Documented experience with programming languages such as Python, Julia, Matlab, C/C++ or similar.

PLEASE NOTE: For detailed information about what the application must contain, see paragraph “About the application”.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with NTNUs guidelines for recruitment positions for general criteria for the position.

Preferred selection criteria

• Experience with multiphase flow and/or porous media
• Experience with fluid mechanics, statistical mechanics, nonlinear dynamics, and/or stochastic methods (documented via courses, academic work or professional experience)
• Experience from cross-disciplinary work
• Experience with theoretical descriptions of transport in porous media
• Interest in physics / fluid mechanics of porous media
• Interest in integrating deep learning and agentic AI methods into the development/simulation pipeline

General information

If you have any questions about the position, please contact Associate professor Gaute Linga, PoreLab, Department of Physics, email gaute.linga@ntnu.no. 

If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact Anja Isaksen, HR Consultant, email anja.t.isaksen@ntnu.no. 

Application deadline: 21.06.2026