Biography

Dr Merih Kucukler is an Associate Professor in Civil Engineering in the School of Engineering at the University of Warwick. He received his PhD in Structural Engineering from Imperial College London, from where he also obtained an MSc with Distinction in Structural Steel Design.

Dr Kucukler's research on the behaviour and design of steel structures aims to achieve better understanding and assessment of the response of steel structures in both conventional and extreme conditions, offering innovative solutions to a range of problems and providing important contributions towards the creation of sustainable and resilient steel structures. Dr Kucukler's research has led to novel structural steel design methods that have been incorporated into the British and European structural steel room temperature and fire design standards such as BS EN 1993-1-2, BS EN 1993-1-4 and BS EN 1993-1-14. As the Principal Investigator, he is currently leading the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) research project EP/V034405/1 Behaviour and Design of Stainless Steel Structures in Fire, which has been supported by major industrial stakeholders and led to new, innovative fire design methods for stainless steel structures which had not existed in the literature.

Dr Kucukler teaches modules in the subjects of computational modelling and steel structures. His research interests focus on structural stability, laboratory testing, numerical modelling and development of structural steel design methods.

Research Interests

• Structural stability
• Steel structures
• Steel-concrete composite structures
• Fire behaviour and design of steel structures
• Advanced numerical modelling of the behaviour of steel structures in conventional and extreme conditions
• Laboratory testing
• Development of structural steel design methods

Selected Publications

• Kucukler M., 2025. Extension of the Continuous Strength Method to the design of steel I-sections in fire. Engineering Structures, 324, 119339.
• Kucukler M., 2025. Stainless steel I-section beams at elevated temperatures: Lateral-torsional buckling behaviour and design. Thin-Walled Structures, 208, 112720.
• Quan C., Kucukler M., 2024. Design of stainless steel SHS and RHS columns in fire by GMNIA with strain limits. Engineering Structures, 316, 118464.
• Murtaza H., Kucukler M., 2024. GMNIA with beam elements and strain limits based fire design approach for steel beams and beam-columns. Engineering Structures, 300, 117260.
• Quan C., Kucukler M., 2023. Stability and design of stainless steel hollow section columns at elevated temperatures. Engineering Structures, 297, 116935.
• Quan C., Kucukler M., 2023. Simulation and cross-section resistance of stainless steel SHS and RHS at elevated temperatures. Thin-Walled Structures, 189, 110849.
• Quan C., Kucukler M., 2023. Cross-section resistance and design of stainless steel CHS and EHS at elevated temperatures. Engineering Structures, 285, 115996.
• Murtaza H., Kucukler M., 2023. Fire design of steel columns through second-order inelastic analysis with strain limits. Thin-Walled Structures, 184, 110458.
• Kucukler M., 2023. Shear resistance and design of stainless steel plate girders in fire. Engineering Structures, 276, 115331.

Projects and Grants

• Behaviour and design of stainless steel structures in fire, Merih Kucukler (PI), EPSRC New Investigator Award, EP/V034405/1, EPSRC, 18/10/2021-17/04/2025, £403k.

Journal Editorial Board Memberships

• Structures, Elsevier, Member of Editorial Board.

Awards

• Structural Stability Research Council (SSRC), Vinnakota Award, 2014.

External Positions

• Member of CEN/TC250 Subcommittee 3 Working Group 22 focusing on the development of the British and European structural steel design standard Eurocode 3 Part 1.14: Design Assisted by Finite Element Analysis.
• Member of the European Convention of Constructional Steelwork (ECCS) Technical Committee 8 Stability.

PhD Student Supervision

Dr Kucukler is enthusiastic to carry out cutting-edge research with motivated PhD students. Thus, he is always interested to hear from potential PhD candidates who would like to perform high-impact PhD research under his supervision. There are a number of PhD scholarship opportunities available for UK-based and international PhD candidates. Please contact Dr Kucukler via email (merih.kucukler@warwick.ac.uk) including your CV if you are interested in doing a PhD within Dr Kucukler's research group at the University of Warwick.

Collaboration Opportunities

Dr Kucukler is always happy to hear from potential Postdoctoral Research Fellows, fellow academics and industrial stakeholders who wish to collaborate with him to perform impactful research. If you would like collaborate with Dr Kucukler as a fellow academic or industrial stakeholder, he would be very happy to discuss the potential collaboration opportunities with you. Additionally, if you would like to work with Dr Kucukler as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Warwick, there are funding opportunities available. For further discussion, please contact Dr Kucukler via email (merih.kucukler@warwick.ac.uk)