Offer Description
MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship: Apply with IMT Atlantique and join us!
Thinking about your next career step and willing to boost your career? Looking to experience intersectoral, interdisciplinary and international research? Wishing to carry out your research in a place addressing industrial, environmental, societal and digital transitions as a priority challenge?
Then apply for a Marie Sklodowska-Curie (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship with IMT Atlantique as your host institution!
The MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF) provide funding to promising postdoctoral researchers with a view to develop their academic and transferable skills and enhance their career prospects by moving and working abroad.
By applying with IMT Atlantique you give yourself a chance to join a technological university ranked among the top 500 universities in the world according to the Times Higher Education (THE) World University’s 2026 ranking (top 301-400 for Computer Science, top 201-250 for Engineering, top 301-400 for Physical sciences, and the 124th in the 2026 THE Interdisciplinary Science ranking, and top 51-100 for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence in the 2025 ShangaĂŻ ranking. IMT Atlantique is also awarded with the “Bienvenue en France” label, a recognition delivered by Campus France for our capacity to welcome and host international researchers in the best working conditions.
Topic open:
Urban water networks are systems used to transport wastewater and potable water to and from centralized treatment plants. This model has improved sanitation and reduced pollution but falls short of addressing current challenges like rapid urbanization and climate change, including increased flooding and water scarcity. UNEP projects a potential 40% gap between demand and supply by 2030. Shifting from the model of abstracting, using, and disposing to more efficient, circular water use is essential3. Implementing water circularity systems is hindered by the lack of a comprehensive framework and tools tailored to local contexts and technologies. Existing indicators based on the 5Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle, reclaim, restore) mainly focus on water volume, often neglecting water quality, resilience, and treatment needs, limiting practical application.
Broader benefits, as ecosystem services inherent to the deployed technology, should be considered in a holistic approach. While optimization methods have been applied at various scales, they often overlook system dynamics, demand variability, and stakeholder preferences. In addition, variation in water demands and quality needs and preferences for different stakeholders is rarely addressed in the literature. Excluding these topics associated with the implementation of new systems may generate environmental or social conflicts.
The aim of this project is to develop and validate a model to help decision makers select and implement water circularity based on the local context, including preferences of stakeholders, available technologies, and their wider ecosystem services. It would go beyond the state of the art of evaluating how much water circularity each scenario could achieve by determining which technologies to implement to guarantee safe and resilient water usage while maximizing the delivery of wider co-benefits and minimizing costs. The proposed multi-objective approach, based on optimization and machine learning algorithms, is used for defining optimal configurations, including water treatment, distribution, and management facilities. It considers urban, agricultural, and industrial constraints associated with water circularity as well as dynamics in demands, quality, and preferences of social, government, and industrial actors in multi-criteria decision-making environments. This approach allows identifying conflicts and synergies around economic performance, water and energy savings, and delivering ecosystem services.
The Nantes Metropolitan Area will be used as case study to test and validate the model under different scenarios and contexts. This project will be undertaken in collaboration with Dr. Mariano MartĂn (University of Salamanca), who will provide support in the modelling process.
Supervisors: Associate Professor Karine Borne (brings water-related knowledge, water management and systems expertise) and Professor Luis Fabian Fuentes Cortes (brings expertise in (multi-objective) optimisation approach)
Keywords: Water, Circularity, Decision support tool, multi-objective optimization
Where to apply
Website: https://imtatlantique.fillout.com/mscapf2026
Skills/Qualifications
To complement the above internal competences at IMT Atlantique, we are looking for a postdoc candidate with expertise in modelling process and machine learning algorithms design, interested to apply ML based optimisation techniques to water systems with:
- a PhD in Process Engineering, Water Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Chemical engineering,
- Strong background in process and system modelling and water management
- Experience in the design and application of machine learning algorithms to real-world systems
- Interested in applying ML-based optimisation techniques to water systems
Additional Information
Benefits
Conditions of the European Fellowship
Duration: 12 to 24 months
Funding for the Postdoctoral Fellow’s salary:
- Living allowance of € 7404* per month (gross amount, including social contributions and income tax)
+ Mobility allowance of € 710 per month (gross amount, including social contributions, but exempt from income tax)
+ If applicable, family allowance of € 660 per month (gross amount, including social contributions and income tax)
*Taking into account the country coefficient for France: 116,6 %
Funding for research, training and networking (e.g. conferences, courses, travel, lab material…): € 1 000 per month
Training: Training portfolio on transferable skills, including a training module on innovative entrepreneurship
Supervision: By Associate Professor Karine Borne and Professor Luis Fabian Fuentes Cortes
Secondment: An interdisciplinary and/or intersectoral mobility (3 months up to 1/3 of the fellowship’s duration) is encouraged when relevant
Additional benefits:
The Postdoctoral Fellow will receive institutional support and guidance on language courses, accommodation, banking, daycare, schooling & family related issues, entry conditions/visas, health insurance, medical care, taxation/salaries, unemployment, work permit, etc. Accommodation in Brest, Nantes and Rennes can also be facilitated upon arrival, by the International Houses in these cities.
Eligibility criteria
You can apply if:
-You are an Experienced Researcher, i.e. in possession of a doctoral degree at the time of the call deadline and have got a maximum of 8 years full-time equivalent experience in research, from the date of the award of your PhD degree.
-You comply with the mobility rule, i.e. you must not have resided or carried out your main activity (work, studies, etc.) in France for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the call deadline (9 September 2026). All nationalities are welcome!
– You want to carry out innovative research: only the best proposals will be selected by the European Commission. All domains of research are eligible!
– You already have great achievements in research: The CV is an important criterion in the MSCA application.
Selection process
How to apply for MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship with IMT Atlantique:
Step 1: Find a supervisor at IMT Atlantique (application before 28 February 2026)
- Pre-determined topics: If you apply to one or two research subject(s) provided by supervisors (please see table 2 below), please send us: 1) your CV and 2) a personal statement (maximum of 3 pages, free writing), which should include a personal introduction, qualifications and achievements, career development objectives, and general motivation.
- OR Open topics: If you want to propose a research topic that is not on the list, please send us: 1) your CV; 2) a personal statement (see above); 3) a two-page work plan proposal.
- Please send your application via this link https://imtatlantique.fillout.com/mscapf2026 before 28 February 2026.
If your application is selected by a supervisor at IMT Atlantique (Feedback: mid March 2026), then, the next step would be to apply jointly for the MSCA PF call 2026, which will be launched by the European Commission in April 2026, with the deadline on 9 September 2026.
Step 2: Prepare the application for the MSCA PF
April 2026
- You will receive detailed information on MSCA PF from the European Project Manager at IMT Atlantique to start your proposal preparation
- You elaborate the research approach jointly with your supervisor(s) and the European Project Manager
May 2026
- You will receive a dedicated training session “Preparing for a Horizon Europe MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship” + advice on institutional aspects and transversal issues (open science, gender, ethics and research data management…) + advice on how to write your proposal
June 2026
- One joint meeting (candidate for fellowship + supervisor(s) + European Project Manager at IMT Atlantique) for the proposal revision
July or August 2026
- One joint meeting (candidate for fellowship + supervisor(s) + European Project Manager at IMT Atlantique) for the proposal revision
September 2026
- One joint meeting (candidate for fellowship + supervisor(s) + European Project Manager at IMT Atlantique) for the proposal proofreading
- Administrative support for your MSCA PF application
- We submit your application for you on the EU Portal (deadline: 9 September 2026).
