Would you like to use computational materials science to help decarbonize one of the world’s most widely used materials?

The Department of Physics at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) is seeking candidates for a four-year predoctoral contract funded through the FPI Fellowship Programme of the Spanish Ministry of Science.

The successful candidate will join Project C3 and carry out a PhD focused on the atomistic simulation of carbonate formation in sustainable cements.

The research will explore how calcium carbonate evolves from clusters in solution and amorphous precursors into crystalline phases such as calcite, aragonite and vaterite. The ultimate goal is to understand and control these processes at the molecular level, contributing to the development of low-carbon cement technologies.

?️ Research methods will include:

- Molecular dynamics
- Density functional theory
- Metadynamics and enhanced sampling
- Machine-learning interatomic potentials
- High-performance computing

? What we offer:

- A four-year predoctoral contract
- Enrolment in the UPV/EHU PhD Programme in Physics
- Advanced training in computational materials science
- Access to supercomputing facilities




- International research stays and collaborations
- Participation in conferences and scientific publications
- The opportunity to work on research with significant scientific and environmental impact

?‍? We are looking for candidates with a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in:

- Physics
- Chemistry
- Materials Science or Materials Engineering
- A related scientific or engineering discipline An interest in atomistic simulation, computational science and programming will be particularly valuable.

The thesis will be carried out at the Department of Physics of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) under the supervision of Hegoi Manzano and Juan José Gaitero.

? Official call, eligibility requirements and application procedure:

FPI 2026 - Gestión de la Investigación - EHU For informal enquiries, please contact:

✉️ [email protected]

✉️ [email protected]

Please share this opportunity with anyone who may be interested.

#PhDPosition #PredoctoralContract #FPU #ComputationalMaterials #MolecularSimulation #CementScience #SustainableMaterials #Decarbonization #UPVEHU

📌 ? 4-year PhD position in atomistic simulation of carbonate formation (España)
🏢 EHU
📍 España