Job offer

European Commission; France; Sur place; EUR 25 000 - 35 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

A leading research institution is offering a PhD position focused on fluid-structure interactions between surface waves and deformable floaters. The role includes designing and conducting original experiments to advance understanding in the field, particularly concerning the behavior of marine pollutants like microplastics. The candidate will collaborate with prominent research teams and contribute to significant scientific outcomes from this research initiative.

Prestations

Access to laboratory facilities

Opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration

Qualifications

• Strong background in fluid mechanics and physical sciences essential.
• Experience in experimental research and numerical modeling required.
• Ability to work collaboratively in research teams is a plus.

Responsabilités

• Conduct experiments on fluid-structure interactions using lab facilities.
• Develop theoretical models and run simulations to validate findings.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary research teams on project objectives.

Connaissances

Experimental design

Numerical simulations

Fluid dynamics

Theoretical modeling

Formation

Master's degree in Physics or Engineering

Outils

Wave tanks

Velocimetry

Optical surface reconstruction

Description du poste

Organisation/Company CNRS Department Fluides, Automatique et Systèmes Thermiques Research Field Engineering Chemistry Physics Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Country France Application Deadline 2 Jul 2025 - 23:59 (UTC) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 1 Sep 2025 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

The PhD will be conducted within the group "Instabilities, Waves, and Turbulence" at the laboratory FAST , under the supervision of Frédéric Moisy and Wietze Herreman. It will involve collaboration with two research teams from the PMMH laboratory (ESPCI) and the Institut d'Alembert (Sorbonne University), as part of the ANR project Transwaves.

The objective of this thesis is to experimentally and numerically investigate the interaction between surface waves on a liquid and complex, deformable floaters. This fluid–structure interaction problem arises in various contexts, notably in the transport and dispersion of marine pollutants such as microplastics.

The first part of the study will focus on the motion of individual floaters, emphasizing capillary effects. The aim is to understand how the interaction between the menisci surrounding the floater and the wave field can generate second-order motions that lead to preferential orientations of the floaters.

In the second part, the focus will shift to the collective dynamics of floaters and their feedback on the flow. The presence of a large number of floaters at the surface can give rise to nontrivial collective behavior: floaters may self-organize into cohesive "rafts" and effectively behave as a viscoelastic solid, thereby modifying the wave dynamics.

Characterizing this complex rheology will provide improved models for pollutant dispersion in natural environments. The doctoral candidate will design and conduct original experiments to study these phenomena using facilities available at the FAST laboratory (wave tanks, velocimetry, optical surface reconstruction), and will also develop theoretical models and numerical simulations to be compared with experimental data.