Ingénieur de recherche

UNI*; France; Sur place; EUR 35 000 - 50 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

A prestigious research institution in France is seeking a Research Engineer to develop and validate innovative hydrology models as part of the SHALCC project. The ideal candidate should have a strong background in Python and C programming, as well as experience in high-performance computing. This role involves developing computational features, validating models, and collaborating with international project partners, all based at the Université Côte d’Azur.

Qualifications

• Very good level in Python for scientific development and optimization.
• Good knowledge of the C language for numerical computation.
• Knowledge of discretization methods like finite elements and volumes.

Responsabilités

• Develop new computational modules and features within hs1D and hs2D.
• Validate models using local high-performance computing infrastructure.
• Document the code and associated test datasets.
• Collaborate with project partners and participate in training activities.

Connaissances

Python

C programming

Discretization methods

Numerical linear algebra

Formation

PhD or Master’s degree with experience in numerical modeling

Outils

High-performance computing (HPC)

MPI

OpenMP

Description du poste

Organisation/Company UNI* Research Field Mathematics Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions Research Support Positions Country France Application Deadline 12 Dec 2025 - 16:00 (Africa/Abidjan) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Other EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

This research engineer position opens as part of the SHALCC project ("SHALlow groundwater resources under Climate Change"), co-funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR) and the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region. The project brings together several academic and industrial partners, including the University of Rouen Normandy, Université Côte d’Azur, SCE, the École Normale Supérieure de Rennes, and INRAE.

The SHALCC project aims to develop innovative methodologies for modeling and simulating the hydrology of shallow aquifers, with the objective of ensuring their applicability to various physiographic, geological, and geomorphological contexts. To this end, the project combines physically based (PB) approaches with machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) approaches.

As part of the physically based modeling, the project is developing a series of efficient numerical models, called hs2D and hs1D, which improve on traditional methods based on the Richards or Boussinesq equations. The hs2D model is based on a two-dimensional watershed-scale Boussinesq–Richards type approach that couples vertically integrated Boussinesq equations with independent vertical Richards models. The 1D vertical Richards subproblems are solved in parallel using a robust linearization scheme and the tridiagonal Thomas algorithm. The hs1D model is a simplified one-dimensional version at the hillslope scale, obtained by further integrating the flux perpendicular to the main slope toward the stream. This formulation achieves linear computational complexity with respect to the number of grid points in the lateral and vertical directions. Watershed-scale simulations are then obtained by aggregating the results from each hillslope along the hydrographic network.

The first implementations of the hs1D and hs2D models were developed in Python, with parallelization handled through mpi4py. The source code is maintained by Université Côte d’Azur.

The research engineer will contribute to the development and validation of the hs1D and hs2D models. The position is based at the JAD Mathematics Laboratory of Université Côte d’Azur, with regular meetings (online and in person) with the project partners.

Main missions include:

• Developing new computational modules and features within hs1D and hs2D, such as evapotranspiration modeling and coupling with surface water processes.
• Validating and comparing models using the local high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure.
• Documenting the code and associated test datasets.
• Collaborating with project partners and participating in training activities, notably with the PhD student recruited at the University of Rouen Normandy.

Profile:

• Very good level in Python (scientific development, optimization, parallelization).
• Good knowledge of the C language for numerical computation and performance.
• Knowledge of discretization methods (finite elements, finite volumes, etc.).
• Solid foundation in numerical linear algebra (direct and iterative solvers).

Desired experience:

• Development and validation of scientific computing codes.
• Experience with high-performance computing (HPC) and parallelization libraries (MPI, OpenMP, etc.).
• Knowledge of hydrology or hydrogeology will be an asset.
• Either PhD or a Master’s degree with at least three years of experience in numerical modeling and scientific computing.

Université Côte d'Azur is located on the French Riviera. It is one of the ten French universities distinguished by a label of excellence (IDEX). It is also linked to other international research institutes: INRIA Sophia-Antipolis, which is a computer science institute, and the 3IA Côte d'Azur, which is an artificial intelligence institute.

The Dieudonné Mathematics Laboratory is located on the Valrose campus of the Université Côté d'Azur, in the center of Nice. The research activity covers a broad spectrum of topics in mathematics, including a strong team in probability and statistics. The successful candidate will work at Dieudonné Mathematics Laboratory.