PRR Project

Summary

Civil Engineering structures are fundamental for human activity, being concrete the most used construction material worldwide. Therefore, expertise in Structural Concrete is critical and it must address the multiple and quite demanding challenges that today are raised. Sustainability, aiming at reaching a zero-carbon construction sector, is a top priority. Higher performance and enhanced durability are other equally important aspects, as well as structural robustness and resilience to expected or to unforeseen extreme events. Additionally, due to the scarcity of construction workers, mainly in Europe, digitalization combined with automation and robotics is indisputably an emerging topic that needs urgent attention.The Structural Concrete Group (included in RG 6) of CERIS has developed pioneer and trend setting research over the last decades, in different topics. Most relevant achievements have been disseminated globally through papers published in top international journals and communications in international conferences. Contributions to pre-normative documents, e.g., fib bulletins, including fib Model Codes, should also be highlighted in this scope. At National level, a significant part of the activity of the Group has been focused in research applied to the prefabrication industry. Several projects in copromotion with different precast companies have been funded by ANI (or directly by the industry) giving rise to several innovative products. Some of these projects won important awards, e.g., 1st Prize ´Innovation in Construction 2014´, in the ´Facades´ category, awarded to project 13285 - ‘Eco-Façade’, funded by ANI, 1st Prize ´Innovation in Construction 2014´, in the ´Constructive Systems´ category, awarded to project 18538 - Hi-Tech-Concrete-Design, funded by ANI, and 1st Prize ´Novo Banco National Innovation Competition 2014´, in the ´Industrial Competitiveness´ sector, also awarded to the latter. It should also be mentioned the new eco-efficient UHPC specifically developed for the installation the Pritzker Prize winner Eduardo Souto Moura prepared for the exhibition ‘Sensing Spaces’, at the Royal Academy of London, which made the cover of the Financial Times (January 2014).Currently, the Group is developing a major project on prefabricated modular construction, with a budget of 2,4 M€ (for IST) funded by PRR, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, and will start a project focusing advanced concrete 3D Printing for structural applications, funded by C5LAB, a collaborative laboratory that gathers together researchers from five different IST research units and LNEC with technicians from the two Portuguese cement producers, CIMPOR and SECIL. This project will be the follow-up of two recently concluded projects developed by the Group, both funded by ANI, in which scope innovative 3D printed eco-efficient concrete façade panels (project LowCBionic) and innovative modular 3D printed concrete towers (project 3DFiber Concrete) were developed.To ensure the success of the above-mentioned new projects, mainly the one addressing 3D concrete printing, it is needed to hire new researchers. This is even more imperative, taking into account the fact that some of the RG 6 members have already retired and many more will retire in just few years. Therefore, this call aims at (i) keeping and strengthening existing competencies in the fields referred to, (ii) fostering pioneer research in new topics and promoting applications of other fields, such as 3D printing, and (iii) maintaining and reinforcing CERIS international network.The functions of the new researcher will be to fulfill the aims previously described. More specifically, they must be engaged in Structural Concrete Group, they will be encouraged to develop research in the emerging topic of Advanced Concrete 3D Printing for Structural Applications, they will be enrolled in task groups of international associations (more specifically fib – The International Federation of Structural Concrete) and they will be invited to collaborate in consultancy activities and other actions aiming at supporting society.Candidates must hold a profile exhibiting a strong background in the topic referred to, large experience in fundamental and applied research, the coordination and participation in scientific projects, among other scientific outputs.CERIS will launch an international competition for hiring the most talented researcher for this position, that will be largely advertised through national and European EU platforms and web portals (e.g. Euraxess). Specific requirements will be established in the announcement, such as the development of a scientific project focused on the topic mentioned before, as well as the demonstration of a solid scientific track record.