Postgraduate research opportunities Physicochemical impact of cyclical Cold Climate, Glaciation and Permafrost perturbances on Geological Disposal Facility host rocks and engineered barrier materials (PICCY)

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Key facts

  • Opens: Wednesday 18 December 2024
  • Deadline: Friday 28 February 2025
  • Number of places: 1
  • Duration: 48 months
  • Funding: Equipment costs, Home fee, International fee, Stipend, Travel costs

Overview

This project will provide new understanding of CCGP perturbations and evaluate their impacts on the physicochemical properties of GDF materials (including engineered barrier, host rock, and overburden geology) via rigorous thermal, mechanical, and chemical experiments.
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Eligibility

We welcome applicants from various backgrounds including, but not limited to:

  • analytical chemistry
  • applied chemistry
  • environmental chemistry
  • physical chemistry
  • civil engineering
  • environmental engineering
  • geotechnical engineering
  • structural mechanics
  • applied geology
  • geochemistry
  • hydrogeology
  • geotechnology
  • climate science
  • hydrology
  • physical geography materials science
THE Awards 2019: UK University of the Year Winner
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Project Details

Any engineered solution for geological disposal of radioactive waste must consider a 1-million-year timescale and include resilience to future Cold Climate, Glaciation and Permafrost (CCGP) processes.

Little is known of past UK permafrost, but depths of ≤600m reported elsewhere easily reach proposed Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) depths. CCGP will affect the thermal and stress fields, and groundwater flow and composition. However, resulting impacts on the physicochemical properties of the rock and engineered barrier system have yet to be experimentally determined.

By performing rigorous thermal, mechanical, and chemical analysis on GDF relevant materials and the fluids flowing through them over cyclical simulated CCGP conditions, this project will define how the material properties evolve.

When coupled to state-of-the-art x-ray tomography (XCT) it is possible to quantify the physicochemical changes in situ (including imaging during freezing, with and without load), the project will quantify the processes driving change, and the impacts of those CCGP-induced perturbations.

Further, it will allow a new understanding of groundwater composition evolution, highlighting potential hydrogeochemical risks and identifying solutes and isotopes of most use for ongoing GDF site monitoring. The experimental programme will enable new understanding of the long-term stability of GDF structures, allowing the nuclear industry to extrapolate and improve GDF design decisions. The project will harness the capability of Strathclyde’s brand new £5 million EPSRC funded IM3AGES facility. 

The project has two major aims:

  • establish CCGP and GDF boundary conditions for candidate UK location(s)
  • derive the physicochemical impact of CCGP on host rocks and engineered GDF materials

These aims will be achieved via the following objectives:

  • characterise underpinning compositional chemistries of GDF relevant rock, engineered materials, and groundwater
  • perform thermal conductivity (TC) analysis campaign on GDF materials (including past CCGP-exposed examples) using rapid modified transient plane source sensors
  • experimentally determine impacts of freeze-thaw cycling on the physicochemical evolution of GDF materials using new environmental XCT cell with 4D image data (3D + time) capability
  • establish the impacts of cyclical mechanical loading during thermal-cycling experiments to determine: (i) direct mechanical impact of glaciation on GDF materials; and (ii) link between hydrochemistry and material evolution under CCGP conditions

The student will benefit from bespoke training across a suite of analytical techniques, many of which are pushing the boundaries between the disciplines of geoscience and engineering. This will take place in Strathclyde’s IM3AGES Facility, National Nuclear User Facility (NNUF), and the Environmental Analytics Laboratory, where expert technical staff will support supervisors. The student will also have access to the Stable Isotope Geoscience Laboratory (SIGL) at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), via NERC National Environmental Isotope Facility (NEIF). The SIGL is an internationally leading facility with a >30-year track record in designing and applying novel stable isotope applications for probing hydrogeological processes.

In addition to the SATURN 12-week residential taught course, the student will be enrolled in Strathclyde’s award-winning PGCert in Researcher Development programme, giving them access to a wide range of training in technical (for example data analysis, scientific writing, experimental design) and transferable (public speaking, lab safety, project management) skills. They will be part of the Faults and Fluid Flow (FAFF) group, giving them exposure to a vibrant community of geoenergy researchers at all career stages (including over 20 PhD students) working on a range of geoengineering projects. FAFF provides a fertile environmental for cross-pollination of reach ideas, allowing the student to learn from their peers and advance the work within this project.

Further information

PhD start date will be Oct 1 2025.

Please contact supervisors for project enquiries.

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Funding details

Funding includes tuition fees, a four-year stipend at the Home Student rate and a maintenance grant for 4 years, starting at the UKRI minimum of £19,795 per annum. It also covers research costs and travel expenses.

The researcher will join the SATURN Nuclear Energy Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT), where they will benefit from a three-month taught course led by subject experts followed by three to four months of research skills training to prepare the student with the skills and knowledge to succeed as an independent researcher.

While there is no funding in place for opportunities marked "unfunded", there are lots of different options to help you fund postgraduate research. Visit funding your postgraduate research for links to government grants, research councils funding and more, that could be available.

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Supervisors

Dr Burnside

Dr Neil Burnside

Chancellor’S Fellow - Senior Lecturer
Civil and Environmental Engineering

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Dr Dobson

Dr Katherine Dobson

Reader
Civil and Environmental Engineering

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Apply

Applications can be made via the SATURN CTD team at Manchester.

Please complete the enquiry form to express your interest.

We strongly recommend you contact the project supervisor after completing the form to speak to them about your suitability for the project.

If your qualifications meet our standard entry requirements, the CDT Admissions Team will send your enquiry form and CV to the named project supervisor.

For general queries regarding the SATURN CDT please contact SATURN@manchester.ac.uk.

Number of places: 1

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Civil and Environmental Engineering

Programme: Civil and Environmental Engineering

PhD
full-time
Start date: Oct 2025 - Sep 2026