Job Information
Organisation/Company: CNRS
Department: Direction des ressources humaines
Research Field: Other
Researcher Profile: First Stage Researcher (R1)
Country: France
Application Deadline: 14 Apr 2023 – 23:59 (UTC)
Type of Contract: Other
Job Status: Full-time
Hours Per Week: 35
Offer Starting Date: 1 Jul 2023
Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?: Not funded by an EU programme
Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?: No
Offer Description
The hiring of researchers who are strongly involved in the animation and management of permanent observation systems of the universe and the planet Earth is a major challenge for the CNRS and academic research. On a planet whose future is darkening due to global change and anthropic pressure on resources, understanding the mechanisms of formation and evolution of the Universe and planets, and of the emergence of life, particularly those that govern the habitability of the worlds, is a prerequisite. This understanding is based on the availability and sharing of research data, most of which must be acquired through continuous and perennial observation of natural and anthropized environments, a sine qua non for science-informed political decisions. As the leading player in research and observation for research to document the processes of formation of the universe and planets, as well as global change, CNRS designs and pilots numerous national and international research infrastructures (IR/IR*). These infrastructures are supported by the National Observation Services (SNO) labelled by the INSU and implemented by the national corps of astronomers and physicists for which the CNRS, via the INSU, ensures the national management. However, the CNAP corps is too small to fully fulfill its mission, especially in the field of planetary and global environmental sciences and thus in sustainability sciences, which cannot thrive without mastering long-term observation tools.The CPJs are therefore a remarkable opportunity for the CNRS to recruit, based on national perspectives and a joint ad-hoc mechanism between CNAP and coCNRS sections, senior scientists aiming at developing and supervising SNO and IR/IR* dedicated to the observation of the Universe and the Earth, in close collaboration with the Universities in which the members of the CNAP corps carry out their missions via the OSUs.
This chair is part of the Isite MUSE of the University of Montpellier (UM), which is organized in three main axes: feeding, caring and protecting. One of the initiatives of MUSE is to stimulate and structure the Montpellier scientific community around water (with the “Key Initiative Water”). This UM initiative is supported for its monitoring and follow-up by the OSU OREME and the associated observation services. The dynamics and size of the Montpellier community dealing with water resources, in a Mediterranean context, with various approaches opening on multidisciplinarity, is unique in France, and leader in Europe as evidenced by the recent creation of the ICIREWARD UNESCO Center.In this context, the Montpellier community has been involved since its foundation in the IR OZCAR (Observatories of the Critical Zone) and for a few years in the ongoing creation of the European Infrastructure eLTER (via, for example, the participation of the Larzac Observatory in the eLTER-PLUS demonstrator project). Thus, the Montpellier community of the critical zone wanted to concretize this national and international involvement in the proposal of a European platform P3M (Mediterranean Plains, Foothills and Plateaus) along the Hérault river. The P3M platform aims at monitoring the interactions between climate change, Mediterranean socio-ecosystems and territorial evolution on the scale of a typical Mediterranean gradient.The recruited researcher will strengthen the links and synergies between the research labs (UMRs) involved in the P3M-eLTER platform centered on the Hérault catchment area and aiming at characterizing and modeling the flows and transfers of water and matter within the different compartments of the critical zone at the catchment scale. He/she will need to ensure the scientific coordination of federative research actions valorizing the databases acquired within the observatories labelled by SNO belonging to the IR OZCAR on this territory. He/she will strongly contribute to the visibility of the P3M-eLTER platform by developing projects and collaborations on a national and international scale.The person recruited will be part of a dynamic regional context studying the critical zone in the Mediterranean context led by the OSU OREME and structured around the iSITE MUSE of the University of Montpellier and the ICIREWARD Unesco Center.
The P3M platform (Mediterranean Plains, Foothills and Plateaux) is being set up as part of the creation of a network of observation platforms and eLTER France sites. This project gathers a network of long-term observatories labelled and linked to the IR OZCAR on a region extending along the Hérault river, down to the coast, and extending from the reliefs of the Cévennes and Causses to the garrigues and then to the wine-growing plains. The P3M-eLTER platform is characterized by specific Mediterranean environments, such as karsts, and a water resource with very high spatial and temporal variability. Due to its location in the Mediterranean context, P3M is a climate change “hot spot”, marked by an increase in the intensity and frequency of hydroclimatic extremes (Cévenol rainfall episodes, flash floods, droughts, aridification, heat waves, fires, etc.). It is necessary to better understand the interrelationships between human activity, climatic phenomena, biophysical processes and biodiversity, especially since the Mediterranean region is subject to increasing human pressure. These interrelationships are expressed differently according to the constraints to which the agro-ecosystems of the platform continuum are subject to (mid-mountains, plateaus, foothills and wine-growing hill plains). In this context, the understanding of the dynamics of water and solute/suspended solids flows, the characterization of the variability of the water resource and of the water risks linked to global changes (climatic, environmental or of uses) within the various ecosystems must be carried out according to a holistic approach to consider the interdependencies or feedbacks between the hydro-eco-sedimentary flows along the platform.The person recruited will be able to implement different approaches, in a non-exclusive way:- original monitoring or experiments (hydrometeorological, geochemical, geophysical, hydrodynamic…) useful for understanding the processes of fluxes genesis, for imaging the different compartments of the critical zone and for conceptualizing their structure and functioning at different scales;- advanced and original numerical simulations, constrained by existing biophysical variables delivered by observatories (joint inversions, data assimilation) or by citizen networks (participatory science, data massification…), in order to obtain a holistic model simulating the large water cycle (P3M platform scale) and the small water cycle (elementary watershed).One of the major scientific objectives of the project is to work on the geological, climatic, hydrological and anthropic heterogeneity of Mediterranean hydro-ecosystems. This heterogeneity, expressed at different spatial and temporal scales, contributes (i) to the resilience of the ecosystems constituting the P3M platform via feedbacks mitigating increasing climatic variability and sensitivity to Mediterranean extremes (rainfall, drought, fire), but sometimes (ii) to tipping points towards degraded ecosystems (aridification, reduction of semi-natural environments). In this context of a better understanding of the evolutionary trajectories of ecosystems, the multidisciplinarity and scientific openness of the Chair holder will be a real asset.
The person recruited will be integrated into the Earth, Water, Environment (TEE) teaching department of the University of Montpellier. He/she will be able to teach from the bachelor to the PhD level. The TEE department offers a Bachelor’s degree in Earth and Water Sciences which leads to two Master’s degrees: the Master’s degree in Water Sciences and the Master’s degree in Earth, Planetary and Environmental Sciences with six specialized courses on water resources or geological hazards, for example.The person recruited will have to develop specific pedagogical approaches in the field (quantitative observations) and numerical approaches around the scientific themes of the P3M-eLTER platform, based on the existing observatories and observations.Part of the teaching could also be given within the framework of the new international master’s degree IDIL and SFRI in order to promote the international visibility of Montpellier’s Earth and Water sciences teaching.
The CNRS is developing a strong policy in favor of open science. Open science consists of making research results “as accessible as possible and closed as necessary”. As such, the CNRS aims to make 100% of the texts of publications resulting from the work of its laboratories accessible , in particular through deposit in HAL. The data produced must also be made available and reusable, except for specific restrictions. In addition, the guiding principles of individual evaluation have been revised in accordance with the DORA declaration, to be more qualitative and to take into account all facets of the researcher’s profession.The person recruited will rely on the observations and open data available on the P3M platform, particularly via the OSU OREME IS (https://oreme.org/plateformes/si/). The potential of the biotic or abiotic monitoring set up by the person recruited will be stored in data bases and disseminated. One of the tasks of the person recruited, through his/her involvement with the stakeholders of the P3M platform, will also be to develop a policy of FAIRisation of the data acquired in collaboration with the data managers of the observatories and non-academic partners.
The dissemination of the results will be done through world-class scientific productions: publications, patents, software… In addition, the results will be communicated to various targets such as scientific communities, media, decision makers, general public, schools, etc., with an adapted calendar. Specific tools may be developed such as websites, newsletters, meetings, international symposia, summer schools and conferences.The P3M platform is a place for multidisciplinary scientific interaction between the academic community of the critical zone and the Mediterranean ecosystems: workshops or summer schools will have their place and can be set up by the Chair holder. These interactions will naturally be oriented towards European countries, with a focus on the Mediterranean region as a whole, and will benefit both OZCAR and eLTER. The P3M platform is also a place for interaction and co-construction with the stakeholders (water resource managers, natural parks, local authorities, associations), allowing for broad scientific dissemination and anchoring in the territory.
The relationship between science and society is now recognized as a full dimension of scientific activity. The project will develop this dimension in synergy with all the partners. The resulting research work will contribute to informing public decision-making. Participatory science initiatives may be initiated with actors from the project’s socio-economic and cultural eco-system .One of the major concerns of the territories’ stakeholders (local authorities, farmers, fishermen, etc.) is the evolution of water resources (in terms of both quality and quantity) in the coming decades: the impact of extreme flooding or drought events, amplification or attenuation of climatic evolution by the transformations of the territories (agriculture, soil sealing or erosion, changes in land use, reuse of water, etc.). The scientific themes of the Chair, based on observations and numerical modeling of flows and reservoirs in the critical zone, therefore naturally meet the concerns of the territories. The Chair holder must be able to put forward the scientific approach and his/her work on the subject in order to make a contribution to society’s problems, particularly with regard to the evolution of water resources.
Requirements
Additional Information
Eligibility criteria
holders of a doctorate or a PhD or equivalent degree or applicants who have gained scientific. There is no restriction on the age or nationality of applicants. All CNRS positions are accessible to people with disabilities, with special arrangements for tests made necessary by the nature of the disability.Website for additional job details
https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CPJ/CPJ-2023-021/Default.aspx
Work Location(s)
Number of offers available: 1
Company/Institute: Direction des ressources humaines
Country: France
Where to apply
Website: https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Candidat/Offre/CPJ-2023-021/Candidater.aspx
