CNRS

The successful applicant will join the recently funded ERC Starting Grant CONCRETER at the University of Rennes, CNRS. The project investigates how groundwater dynamics shape the thermal regime of the shallow subsurface — the critical zone where water, energy, element, and biological cycles interact.

Subsurface temperatures are jointly controlled by fluctuations in ground surface temperature (GST) and by groundwater flow. Thermal anomalies generated by groundwater movement interact with those produced by the downward conductive propagation of ongoing surface warming. This coupling complicates the interpretation of hydrogeological signals from temperature data Irvine et al., 2016 and confounds palaeoclimate reconstructions based on borehole temperature profiles Ferguson et al., 2006. Because the coupling varies widely across environments and spatiotemporal scales, it is generally neglected when interpreting borehole temperature–depth profiles Vogt et al., 2014.

Research objectives

Through the development of more advanced modelling approaches, this project aims to:

1. Couple the effects of GST change, topography, and lithological variability, to disentangle the individual contributions of conductive and advective heat transport; and
2. Link the forward model to a multi-borehole inversion scheme Hopcroft et al., 2009, enabling decomposition of measured temperature signals into the separate contributions of fluid flow and past GST variation — a necessary step toward understanding groundwater's role in shaping catchment-scale temperature distributions.

Requirements

Research Field - Geosciences or Physics or Computer science

Education Level – Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

- Experience with computer programming /scripting (Matlab, Python, R, C/C++, Fortran)

- Sound and quantitative understanding of geological fluid flow

- Applicants must be proficient in both written and oral English

- Experience with reservoir modelling or hydrodynamic modelling, and inverse methods, is an advantage.

- Applicants must be able to work independently and in a structured manner and demonstrate good collaborative and communication skills.

Scientific environment

The postdoctoral researcher will work in an international and interdisciplinary research environment within a dynamic and collaborative team. They will be fully integrated into the ERC project and benefit from a stimulating scientific setting, with regular interactions with team members, project collaborators, and international partners. The working environment will encourage scientific independence, skills development, and scientific exchange through team meetings, seminars, conferences, and collaborations.

Please include in your application:

• a brief account of the applicant's research interests and motivation for applying for the position;
• the names and contact information for two referees;
• a CV;
• transcripts and diplomas showing completion of the master's degrees;
• a publication list.

The application and appendices with translations into English or French must be sent to maria.klepikova@univ-rennes.fr.