Dr. Junlong Shang

Dr Junlong Shang is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor, permanent) in Rock Mechanics in the Department of Civil Engineering and Management at The University of Manchester. He also serves as Head of Postgraduate Research for the Department. He holds a BEng and an MEng in Mining Engineering from Central South University, and a PhD in Earth Sciences from the University of Leeds.

Prior to joining The University of Manchester in 2024, he held positions at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, and the University of Glasgow.

At Manchester, he leads the Rock Mechanics and Geomechanics (RMGE) team whose mission is to advance the understanding of how rocks and fractures behave under complex subsurface conditions. Using a combination of laboratory experiments, computational modelling, and artificial intelligence (AI), the team investigates fractures across various scales—from microcracks to major faults—and how they control permeability, reactivation, and stability. The team’s work on coupled thermal, hydraulic, mechanical, and chemical processes supports safe and sustainable low-carbon subsurface technologies, including geothermal energy extraction, underground energy storage, radioactive waste disposal, and carbon sequestration. Recently, Dr Shang has developed an interest in active control of subsurface fractures, which has many implications for low-carbon subsurface technologies.