AN Ambitious PHD Candidate

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Job offer
- JOB - Netherlands - University of Amsterdam (UvA) via AcademicTransfer - Posted on: 11 September 2026
11 Sep 2026
University of Amsterdam (UvA) Research Field
Chemistry » Applied chemistry
Chemistry » Physical chemistry
Engineering » Materials engineering
Physics » Applied physics
Physics » Chemical physics
First Stage Researcher (R1)
Netherlands Type of Contract
Temporary Job Status
Not Applicable Hours Per Week
38.0 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?
Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?
No
Offer Description
Are you fascinated by the intersection of Physics, Chemistry and materials science? Do you want to contribute to protecting monuments including World Heritage Sites from degradation caused by rising damp?
The Institute of Physics at the University is seeking an ambitious PhD candidate to investigate the effectiveness of damp-proofing products across multiple length scales.
Join Us!
Rising damp from groundwater represents a critical threat to buildings worldwide. Some building-preservation treatments (most of the times polymers) are used to reduce rising damp , that is the moisture uptake from the ground moving upward through porous brick, stone, or mortar by capillary action. These treatments are supposed to create a water-repellent zone in order to interrupt upward moisture transport.
However, the fundamental mechanisms governing the spreading and polycondensation at the microscale, and thus the effectiveness, of such treatments in porous building materials remain largely unexplored. Critical knowledge gaps exist regarding the multiscale behaviour of these treatments, from microscale pore interactions to macroscale building performance.
This project will advance beyond the state of the art by elucidating for the first time the dynamics of spreading and polycondensation o...