Post-Doctoral researcher in climatology W/M

Employeur

The University of Bordeaux is a great dynamic and responsible university that cares about the well-being of its staff. Joining us means working in a privileged environment within a particularly diverse and open professional community, benefiting from welcome and inclusion schemes, training and internal mobility. It means participating in an academic, scientific and human adventure. It means committing to meeting the challenges of the 21st century.

Join the Oceanic and Continental Environments and Palaeoenvironments (EPOC) – laboratory of the University of Bordeaux!

This laboratory is a Joint Research Unit under the joint supervision of the University of Bordeaux, the CNRS, Bordeaux INP and the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes.

EPOC is a multidisciplinary UMR developing a strong and recognized expertise in ecotoxicology, ecology, biogeochemistry, environmental chemistry, sedimentology, paleoclimatology, coastal oceanography, marine geosciences.

As part of the SORTED project, we are recruiting a Post-Doctoral Researcher W/M whose work will focus on understanding the risk of collapse of the North Atlantic subpolar gyre.

This project, funded by the Advanced Research + Invention Industry and led by the National Oceanographic Centre (NOC) in Southampton, aims to better understand and anticipate the risk of a tipping point of the North Atlantic subpolar gyre (SPG) in the near future.

The SPG plays a key role in global ocean circulation through the process of convection, resulting in the transfer of heat and carbon to the deep ocean. However, some CMIP6 climate models project a collapse of this convection before 2100, causing sudden cooling and changes in the mixed layer. It is linked to the lightening of the surface waters of the North Atlantic, caused by warming, the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, the increase in atmospheric precipitation, which are increasing stratification of the ocean. However, the exact mechanisms leading to such a tipping point remain debated. To better understand these processes and anticipate possible early warning signals, an in-depth analysis of heat, volume and salinity budgets in CMIP6 models is required as well as the quantification of water mass transformation in the SPG and its evolution through time.

The work proposed to the postdoctoral fellow is to identify the processes leading to the critical stratification that prevents convection, by examining the ocean's spatial density, temperature and salinity budgets. The aim is to isolate the factors responsible for the
formation of dense water and to assess their role in the collapse of the SPG. The study will integrate air-sea fluxes, horizontal and vertical advection and climate feedbacks specific to the SPG. A comparison with observations and high-resolution experiments will make it possible to test the representation of these processes in CMIP6 models.

Votre mission

The main mission consists of setting up an early warning system regarding a possible collapse of the subpolar gyre. This system will rely on an analysis of several available simulations, thus the large set of the CESM model but also higher resolution simulations.

Your role will be to identify critical stratification processes that block convection, examining ocean density spatial density, temperature and salinity. The objective is to isolate the factors responsible for dense water formations and to evaluate their role in the collapse of the SPG. The study will integrate air-sea flow, horizontal and vertical advection, and climate feedbacks specific to SPG.

# Modeling and research

•       You contribute to the understanding of the challenges in the scientific field related to this project through an analysis and a bibliographic monitoring

•       You set up hypotheses to be tested and analyses

•       You retrieve and format datasets from a climatological digital model

•       You analyze this data using code in Python

# Scientific valorization

•       You present the results obtained orally and during consortium meetings, colloquiums, international seminars

•       You actively participate in the drafting of deliverables and scientific articles around the results obtained

Vos atouts / Vos talents

Holder of a PhD in in Climatology and/or Oceanography, you have proven knowledge on models for predicting climatological phenomena.

•       You are autonomous and organized in your work

•       You demonstrate scientific rigor

•       You are proficient in the Python language

•       You like working in a multidisciplinary team

•       You are proficient in oral and written scientific English in a multicultural work context (level C1 / C2)

Do you recognize yourself? Apply!

More information:

By joining this project, you will work within a group of experts in climatological research with the support of Artificial Intelligence techniques.

Based in Pessac, Gironde, FRANCE – access by tramway line B (stop « Doyen Brus ») buses, bike.

The laboratory is near the city-centre of Bordeaux and about 60 Km of the Atlantic coast.

24-month fixed-term contract

Gross monthly salary: 2750€

Job Benefits:

50 days of annual leave from the first year

75% of the cost of a Gironde public transport pass covered

Contribution to private healthcare insurance of 15€ / month

Subsidised meals

Leisure, sports and cultural activities for all staff

Disabled-friendly establishment

Possibility of staff parking

Sustainable mobility package for commuting between home and work

Welcome programme and training courses

Recruitment process: Applications are reviewed as they arrive.

Candidates selected for an interview will be contacted by the Recruitment Officer for a first pre-qualification phone conversation. An interview with the supervisor will then be organised by videoconference.

Interested applicants should send a CV, brief statement of qualifications and basis for interest in the position, copies of up to 3 relevant publications, and the email addresses of 2 appropriate references.