Research Traineeship in Fire Safety Engineering Applied to Road and Railway Infrastructures

Institution: SFA Laboratory of Roads, Railways, and Airports, University of Salerno

Website: https://www.unisa.it/

Country: Italy

Duration: 4 months

Contact information at the placement: Isidoro Russo, isrusso@unisa.it

Contact information at the higher education institution: bbarone@unisa.it

Description:

• The intern will support research activities under supervision, contributing to:
  Supporting ongoing research activities focused on fire safety in road and railway tunnels;
• Conducting literature reviews on fire safety design, tunnel safety regulations, and international standards, with specific reference to road and railway tunnel infrastructures;
• Assisting in the analysis of fire-induced hazards in tunnel environments, including impacts on user safety, structural performance, and operational continuity of transport systems;
• Supporting the investigation of the implications of alternative energy carriers—such as electric propulsion systems and hydrogen-based technologies—on fire scenarios and risk profiles in tunnel infrastructures;
• Contributing to the application of analytical and numerical approaches, including fire and smoke propagation modelling, for the assessment of emergency conditions in tunnel systems;
• Assisting in the evaluation of mitigation measures and safety strategies for road and railway tunnels;
• Supporting data analysis activities and contributing to the preparation of technical reports and research papers.

Requirements:

• Academic background in civil engineering, fire safety engineering, or related disciplines;
• Basic knowledge of fire safety principles (e.g. fire dynamics, smoke movement, and heat transfer in confined environments);
• Interest in fire safety design and tunnel safety regulations for road and railway infrastructures;
• Ability to perform literature reviews and to understand and summarize scientific and technical documents;
• Basic understanding of risk assessment concepts applied to transport infrastructures;
• Familiarity with numerical or simulation tools (e.g. CFD-based tools for fire and smoke modelling) is desirable;
• General awareness of emerging transport technologies (e.g. electric vehicles and hydrogen-based systems) and their potential safety implications;
• Ability to support the analysis of fire-induced hazards and their effects on user safety and infrastructure performance;
• Basic skills in data analysis and organization of research results;
• Motivation to contribute to research activities and to the preparation of technical reports and scientific publications.

Language of communication: English

(Internship/Position ID: NSMT_IT0012)