1 Post doc position (incarico post-doc) and 1 Research Fellowship under the project HEATFORCE-predicting HEAT transfer by FORCEd convection in variable properties fluids

Project description

The HEATFORCE project investigates heat transfer in turbulent flows when fluid properties vary with temperature. Forced-convection heat transfer plays a central role in many energy systems, including domestic radiators, heat pumps, fuel cells, nuclear power plants, solar receivers, electronic cooling systems, aircraft, and rocket engines. In these applications, fluids are often subjected to intense heating or cooling, leading to significant variations in thermophysical properties such as density and viscosity. The project employs high-fidelity Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) to quantify how temperature-induced property variations influence wall friction and heat transfer, over both smooth and rough surfaces. The postdoctoral researcher will investigate turbulent wall-bounded flows in air and water, with the aim of advancing the physical understanding of these flows and developing reliable, physics-based predictive models.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a closely related field. A strong background in compressible turbulence, heat transfer, wall-bounded flows, and numerical methods for fluid dynamics is required, demonstrated through prior research experience. Experience with turbulent flows over rough surfaces, GPU programming, and large-scale high-performance computing simulations will be considered a strong asset.

Scientific supervisor: Dr. Davide Modesti

Job details

• Employer: Gran Sasso Science Institute
• Location: viale Francesco Crispi, 7 L’Aquila, Italy
• Published: 2026-05-04
• Application deadline: 2026-05-21 15:00 (Europe/Rome)
• Job type: Postdoc, Researcher
• Field: Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computational Engineering, Thermodynamics, Fluid Dynamics, Energy Technology, Systems Engineering