Institut des Géosciences de l'Environnement (IGE/CNRS)

The IGE studies climate, the functioning of the planet and its evolution in terms of pollution, global changes and risks for societies. Historically, the IGE conducts its research in regions with significant societal and environmental issues: the polar regions, the intertropical zone, and mountain regions. It is located in the French alps.

The average number of staff member in the laboratory is about 330, including 190 permanent members (researchers, teacher-researchers, engineers, technicians and administrative staff) and about 140 doctoral students, post-doctoral students and staff on fixed-term contracts. Each year, the laboratory welcomes about 120 trainees and scientific visitors. The IGE is housed in four buildings on the Grenoble University Campus (Glaciology building, OSUG-B, Maison Climat Planète and INRAE-Grenoble Saint Martin d’Hères).

The IGE is one of the main laboratories of the Observatoire des Sciences de l’Univers de Grenoble (OSUG) which is a federative structure of the INSU.

The selected candidate will carry out his mission within the ICE3 (Ice core and climate) team of the IGE and will be placed under the responsibility of Joël Savarino. This position is part of the ERC Doc-Past. On top of salary, funding is also available for science communication, travel, publication fee, training.

Homepage: https://www.ige-grenoble.fr/?lang=en

Chemical cycles operating in Earth’s atmosphere are responsible for many important phenomena, and have major consequences for air pollution, climate change and the evolution of the atmosphere over time. Some of the reactions within these cycles exhibit isotopic fractionation. This process leaves a fingerprint on the products of these reactions. If records of these products are preserved, as in the case of ice cores, for example, the isotopic analysis of these records can provide vital information about how Earth’s past environment changed over time.
Current developments in clumped isotopic chemical analysis techniques should provide chemical information of unprecedented detail, allowing us to understand isotopic enrichment on the scale of chemical bond rather than bulk samples. The goal of this project is to study selected cycles involving sulphur and nitrogen chemistry in several reaction chambers: HELIOS (CNRS, Orléans), CESAM (UPEC, Paris). Both of these chambers are uniquely well-equipped to understand atmospheric chemical composition in fine detail, which will be used to develop detailed atmospheric degradation mechanisms. At the same time, isotopic composition will be studied using a state-of-the-art orbitrap technique, which will be used for isotopic analysis at the Institut de Geosciences de l’Environnement (Grenoble).

Activities

- The successful candidate will contribute to the development of innovative analytical methods, based on the analysis of sulfate and nitrate isotopologues by high-sensitivity, high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometer.
- The candidate will be responsible for experiments in an atmospheric simulation chamber and processing of data from instruments on the analytical platform.
- He or she will design experimental set-ups in line with the scientific objectives set by the Doc-Past project.
- He or she will play an active role in the project’s management, regularly presenting progress made, obstacles encountered and solutions found.
- He or she will be in contact with scientific equipment suppliers, and will be able to clearly express his or her needs and implement them.
- The successful candidate will be expected to present his/her results in scientific articles, at international conferences, and in working groups dedicated to these issues. The scientific exploitation of results is a central criterion.

Skills

the successful candidate must:
- Hold a PhD in chemistry, physical chemistry, atmospheric sciences or analytical chemistry
- Be able to communicate orally and in writing in English; French would be appreciated
- Be able to work independently
- Be able to work as part of a team
- Proven ability to write scientific articles and/or reports.
- Proficiency in a scientific programming language (R, Python, etc.)

Knowledge in one or more of the following areas:

- atmospheric chemistry
- Analytical chemistry
- Atmospheric physical chemistry
- Isotope analysis
- Mass spectrometry

To apply

Expectation starting date June 2025