Applicants are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Mechanical and Production Engineering programme. The position is available from 01 July 2025 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.

Title:
PhD Position in Data-Driven Monitoring of Bearing Lubrication for Sustainable Lubricant Solutions

Research area and project description:
This PhD project will be based in the Mechanics and Materials section of the Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering at Aarhus University, which has research focus on Structural Mechanics and Materials Engineering. This project has a multidisciplinary nature. The aim is, firstly, to design, construct, and calibrate a customized test rig for journal bearings, to gather essential tribological data, such as forces, temperatures, vibration amplitudes, and acoustic signals. Secondly, a series of experiments is to be planned and carried out, to generate a comprehensive dataset for bearing running with different lubricants, under different conditions. The data will subsequently be analysed to develop a system for monitoring lubrication states via thickness under varying loading conditions.

The project utilizes both numerical and experimental techniques, leveraging high-performance computing resources and state-of-the-art experimental facilities available at the AU Tribology Lab. Close collaboration with industrial partners is a natural and essential aspect of the project.

The project has received financial support from the Innovation Fund Denmark (Innovationsfonden). You will be joining an innovative and exciting cross-disciplinary research team which has excellent infrastructure and access to state-of-the-art experimental and computational facilities for the project. You are expected to autonomously carry out research work under supervision. You may co-supervise students (MSc and BSc) in their projects. You will expand your research portfolio and share your research findings through high-impact publications and presentations at international conferences, contributing to innovative machine systems, data acquisition, signal analysis, and bearing health monitoring.

Project description: For technical reasons, you must upload a project description. Please simply copy the project description above and upload it as a PDF in the application.

Qualifications and specific competences:
Applicants for the PhD position must hold a relevant master’s degree (120 ECTS) or have completed at least one year of a master’s program in Mechanical Engineering/Science or Materials Engineering/Science.

The ideal candidate should demonstrate the following:

• Strong background in design of experiments and tribological tests
• Solid knowledge and understanding of lubrication theories, mechanical vibrations and acoustics
• Hands-on experience with programming languages such as Python and Matlab
• Experience with signal analysis and data-driven methodologies will be considered an asset
• Self-motivated, proactive, team-oriented, and goal-focused approach to research and collaboration
• Full proficiency in English

Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering, Katrinebjergvej 89F, 8200 Aarhus N., Denmark.

Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information regarding the PhD position are invited to contact:

• Ramin Aghababaei, ra@mpe.au.dk (main supervisor)
• Mikael Andersen Langthjem, ml@mpe.au.dk (co-supervisor)

For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide. If answers cannot be found there, please contact:

• admission.gradschool.tech@au.dk

How to apply:
Please follow this link to submit your application.

Application deadline is 15 May 2025 at 23:59 CEST

Preferred starting date is 01 July 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Please note:

• Only documents received prior to the application deadline will be evaluated. Thus, documents sent after deadline will not be taken into account.
• The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.
• Shortlisting will be used, which means that the evaluation committee only will evaluate the most relevant applications.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background. Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with applicable collective agreement.