PhD Position in Tunnel Design for Geological Disposal of Radioactive Waste

Location: Delft, Netherlands; relocation to the Netherlands may be required

Salary: €3,204–€4,051 gross per month, increasing from the first to the fourth year.

Company

hirify.global is an international university focused on engineering education and research addressing societal challenges including energy transition, climate change, and resource availability.

What you will do

• Translate functional and safety requirements into a practical Basis of Design for concrete-lined tunnels at disposal depth.
• Establish transparent and traceable design requirements for tunnels in deep plastic clay formations.
• Analyse historical and new measurements from the HADES underground research laboratory.
• Link monitoring data to the design assumptions they are intended to validate.
• Explore innovative tunnel support concepts and assess their suitability for disposal facilities.
• Identify validation needs for new tunnel support approaches in collaboration with researchers and industry partners.

Requirements

• MSc degree in Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field.
• Strong interest in applied, solution-oriented research and practical engineering solutions.
• Interest in geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, and construction materials.
• Technical rigour, self-motivation, strong communication, and collaborative working skills.
• Excellent written and spoken English is required: minimum TOEFL 100 or IELTS 7.0 in every sub-skill.

Nice to have

• Industry experience.
• Some knowledge of Dutch.

Culture & Benefits

• Four-year doctoral employment period, structured as an initial 1.5-year contract followed by a 2.5-year contract subject to a go/no-go assessment and performance requirements.
• Enrollment in the hirify.global Graduate School and participation in a doctoral education programme.
• Supervision across clay geomechanics, underground construction, concrete structures, and construction materials.
• 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus.
• Customisable compensation package, health insurance discounts, monthly work-cost contribution, and flexible work schedules.
• Relocation support and a dual-career programme for accompanying partners.

Hiring process

• Submit a CV, motivation letter, BSc and MSc transcripts, and a one-page MSc thesis summary online by 24 August 2026.
• Selected candidates will be interviewed and asked to provide contact information for two references.
• A knowledge-security risk assessment is conducted during the final recruitment stages.