A four year Ph.D. studentship is available in the Department of Numerical Mathematics at Charles University, Czech Republic, on the Primus research project “Agglomeration and refinement of polytopic meshes for virtual element and discontinuous Galerkin finite element methods”, under the supervision of Dr. Scott Congreve.

This project is concerned with the development and analysis of new algorithms for creating agglomerated meshes for use in discontinuous Galerkin finite element (DGFEM) or virtual element (VEM) methods. Existing methods of agglomeration are not designed to optimise the resulting DGFEM or VEM and, as such, may construct sub-optimal meshes with larger than ideal error. Therefore, the aim of this project is to design algorithms for constructing agglomerated meshes that

– improve the DGFEM and VEM methods defined on the mesh by considering the analysis of the numerical method, and
– optimise the mesh based on a priori knowledge (such as domain geometry).

Further details of the project can be found on the project website:
https://www2.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~congreve/primus

The Ph.D. grant will be 25 000 CZK/month for the duration of the project (from start date of the Ph.D. until August 2025). This grant amount amply covers the cost of living in the Czech Republic. After the end of the project the Ph.D. will continue under a normal Ph.D. grant of 20 000 CZK/month for final two years of study. The expected start date will be during September 2023.

Applicants must hold a Master’s degree, by the start date of the Ph.D. (September 2023) and have a strong interest in numerical analysis and finite element methods. Knowledge of MATLAB, C++, Python, or similar programming languages is strongly recommended.

Applicants will be required to demonstrate an adequate command of English; i.e., equivalent to at least level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). This requirement can be waived for students with at least two years of secondary/university education with English as sole language of instruction in Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, Malta, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK or the USA.

The application process will consist of two rounds.

For the first round, interested applicants should submit the following documents to congreve@karlin.mff.cuni.cz before March 31st 2023:

– Curriculum Vitae,
– Cover Letter explaining motivation and interest in this position,
– Official Transcripts, if available, for their Master’s and undergraduate studies (in both original language and with an English translation)
– Brief summary of Master’s thesis (including PDF of thesis if available).

Additionally, the candidate should arrange for two letters of recommendation to be submitted directly to the same email address before the same deadline (March 31st 2023).

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an online interview in April 2023.

Finalists will then be invited to apply for the second round through the university application system for prospective Ph.D. students:  Here