ETH Zurich is one of the world’s leading universities specialising in science and technology. It is renowned for its excellent education, its cutting-edge fundamental research and its efforts to put new knowledge and innovations directly into practice. The Chair of Wood Materials Science at the Institute for Building Materials has an opening for a Doctoral student in computational fracture modeling of cellulose-based gradient materials The objective of this project is to develop multiscale computational models of fracture propagation in delignified wood with material property gradients. Inspired by natural tissue structures of different biological role models, we pursue to improve toughness performance of the cellulose material. Simulation results will be compared to experimental results for validation and applied to improve design strategies. This approach will enable a better understanding of fundamental links across scales that govern fracture tolerance of complex materials and helps developing structural gradient materials with optimized toughness properties. More information:( http://www.ifb.ethz.ch/ )