About the Role

We are seeking a suitably qualified candidate for a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) role to support a Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) and ARC NetZero Hub co-funded research program in concrete road pavement technologies. The successful appointee will contribute to the development of a practical predictive framework for estimating early-age (approximately 1-3 days) cracking risks in rigid concrete pavements, with particular emphasis on informing control-joint cutting timing and mitigating premature cracking, spalling, and associated maintenance costs.

About You

The incumbent is expected to have a strong understanding of concrete materials and early-age phenomena (e.g., hydration, thermal effects, shrinkage, heat evolution, restraint, cracking risks, etc.) and their relevance to pavement performance. You will have demonstrated ability to plan and deliver research tasks to deadlines, including reporting, documentation, and stakeholder-facing deliverables.

As the successful applicant, you will also have:

• PhD (or near completion with evidence of submission date) in Civil Engineering, Pavement Engineering, or a closely related field

• Familiarity with Australian standards/specifications relevant to concrete and pavements, and/or experience working with road agencies (e.g., TfNSW or equivalents)

• Demonstrated research outputs consistent with Level A, including publications in refereed journals and/or equivalent scholarly outputs relevant to concrete materials, pavements, early-age behaviour, and modelling

• Ability to develop and apply quantitative models (mechanistic, statistical, or hybrid) and to conduct validation, uncertainty assessment, and sensitivity analyses 

• Experience designing and running laboratory programs (e.g., shrinkage, restrained ring, temperature rise, maturity, strength/creep/elastic properties) and interpreting results for model calibration

• Prior experience of running projects autonomously as a Project Manager is desirable.

Full TimeFull Time29-Sep-2026

About the Role

We are seeking a suitably qualified candidate for a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) role to support a Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) and ARC NetZero Hub co-funded research program in concrete road pavement technologies. The successful appointee will contribute to the development of a practical predictive framework for estimating early-age (approximately 1-3 days) cracking risks in rigid concrete pavements, with particular emphasis on informing control-joint cutting timing and mitigating premature cracking, spalling, and associated maintenance costs.

About You

The incumbent is expected to have a strong understanding of concrete materials and early-age phenomena (e.g., hydration, thermal effects, shrinkage, heat evolution, restraint, cracking risks, etc.) and their relevance to pavement performance. You will have demonstrated ability to plan and deliver research tasks to deadlines, including reporting, documentation, and stakeholder-facing deliverables.

As the successful applicant, you will also have:

• PhD (or near completion with evidence of submission date) in Civil Engineering, Pavement Engineering, or a closely related field

• Familiarity with Australian standards/specifications relevant to concrete and pavements, and/or experience working with road agencies (e.g., TfNSW or equivalents)

• Demonstrated research outputs consistent with Level A, including publications in refereed journals and/or equivalent scholarly outputs relevant to concrete materials, pavements, early-age behaviour, and modelling

• Ability to develop and apply quantitative models (mechanistic, statistical, or hybrid) and to conduct validation, uncertainty assessment, and sensitivity analyses 

• Experience designing and running laboratory programs (e.g., shrinkage, restrained ring, temperature rise, maturity, strength/creep/elastic properties) and interpreting results for model calibration

• Prior experience of running projects autonomously as a Project Manager is desirable.

Full TimeFull Time29-Sep-2026