Getting involved
You enjoy using dolfiny and would like to get involved?
Great, we value contributions of all kind, from comments, corrections, extensions to new features.
- For comments and corrections, use the issue tracker.
- For code contributions, create a pull request form a fork (guide).
- For bigger endeavors, student- or internship projects please contact the authors via email.
🎓 Student & Internship Projects¶
As part of the study programs at the University of Luxembourg, internships or other arrangements, we offer the possibility to get involved with open source software development of modern finite element solutions.
Projects may address problems ranging across
- modern IT infrastructure (containerized applications, CI/CD pipelines, dependency management),
- software development (efficient implementations, automated testing, adaptation of modern code practices and tooling),
- numerics (non-linear solvers, optimisation algorithms, parallel data structures), and
- civil engineering (models and design of: beam-, truss- or continua).
📁 Idea Hub - collection of project ideas¶
➰ Interface to PETSc arc length solver
Simulations of unstable behaviour, such as buckling, require advanced solution strategies. Arc length methods offer a robust alternative to classic Newton solvers.
Currently, dolfiny supports (with a custom implementation) an arc length method as presented by Crisfield (1983) - see the continuation demos in the repository.
The project aims at interfacing to the PETSc SNES arc length solver and demonstrating its capabilities.
🤝 Third-medium contact demo
The third-medium contact method, ref. Wriggers et al. (2013) and Wriggers et al. (2025), gained poplarity for its variationally pleasing and differential contact formulation.
Its formulation fits well into the domain description language UFL.
The project aims to demonstrate the usage of third medium contact formulations within FEniCS and (possibly) applying it other use cases, such as optimisation problems. It given the opportunity to understand a modern research topic and to get involved with modern, coding practices.
📝 Your project idea
You have an own idea for a project that you would like to see accomplished? Suggest it to us!
📢 Opportunities¶
PhD Position in Computational Mechanics at the University of Luxembourg
Potential areas of your future research could include – but are not limited to – optimisation of light-weight structures under stochastic and/or impact loads, topology optimisation with advanced response and/or manufacturing constraints, parametric shape reconstruction from implicit shape descriptions. The research will be conducted in the context of an EU-wide project and in close collaboration with industrial partners based in Luxembourg...
- Crisfield, M. A. (1983). An arc‐length method including line searches and accelerations. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 19(9), 1269–1289. 10.1002/nme.1620190902
- Wriggers, P., Schröder, J., & Schwarz, A. (2013). A finite element method for contact using a third medium. Computational Mechanics, 52(4), 837–847. 10.1007/s00466-013-0848-5
- Wriggers, P., Korelc, J., & Junker, Ph. (2025). A third medium approach for contact using first and second order finite elements. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 436, 117740. 10.1016/j.cma.2025.117740