RESEARCH in Space and Planetary Sciences (specialisation in Space awareness and variable sources) W/M

IRD Occitanie; France; On-site; EUR 38,000 - 46,000; Full time

Job summary

IRD Occitanie invites applications for a Category A – Postdoctoral position in Space and Night-sky Sciences on Reunion Island. The fixed-term contract runs 19 months starting 1 Feb 2027, within the SkyRUN program and the Espace-Dev unit.

The successful candidate will lead research on transient sky phenomena, employing observational or phenomenological modelling approaches and contribute to the TAMARINS telescope project, with collaborations across UR, CNRS, CEA, and OSUR.

Qualifications

• Lead research on transient sky studies and related topics.
• Choose observational or phenomenological modelling approaches.
• Collaborate on TAMARINS telescope development and related plans.

Responsibilities

• Lead research on transient sky studies.
• Develop methods for real-time classification of transients.
• Participate in multi-wavelength follow-up proposals.
• Evaluate TAMARINS telescope constraints for transient populations.
• Model distance distributions for relevant phenomena.
• Collaborate with the SkyRUN team and Espace-Dev partners.

Skills

Transient sky studies

Space science

Real-time classification

Multi-wavelength follow-up

Education

PhD in Astronomy

Tools

Astropy

Vera Rubin data

Job description

Organisation/Company IRD Occitanie Research Field Other Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Application Deadline 26 Nov 2026 - 00:00 (Europe/Paris) Country France Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Offer Starting Date 1 Feb 2027 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

Category A – Postdoctoral position
Contract: Fixed Term Contract 19 months

As a French institute dedicated to international scientific research, IRD contributes to strength the resilience of societies in the context of forthcoming global upheavals. It is present in more than 50 countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Pacific, as well as in mainland France and in the French overseas territories.

Its research activities provide concrete responses to priority needs: climate change mitigation and adaptation, the fight against poverty and inequality, the preservation of biodiversity, access to healthcare, and consideration of social dynamics. Research questions are developed in collaboration with locally-acting people and local communities. The teams bring together diverse perspectives, disciplines, and expertise through long-term partnerships to develop robust, high-impact solutions.

The IRD advocates for research that benefits as many people as possible. It shares the results of its projects and brings science to serve for practical action. In this way, it supports the transformation of societies toward more equitable and sustainable social, economic, and environmental models.

The research program that you will join

The “Institut de Recherche pour le Développement” (IRD), in collaboration with the “Université de la Réunion” (UR), the “Commissariat à l’energie atomique et aux énergies alternatives” (CEA) and the “Centre national de la recherche scientifique” (CNRS), is developing a transdisciplinary research project related to Space and Night-sky Sciences in Reunion island, entitled SkyRUN . In the context of this program, the offered IRD position will be taken within the Research structure “Espace-Dev” ( https://www.espace-dev.fr/ ) and will be based in Reunion Island.

SkyRUN is developed following a structured approach, using the “Reunion Island night sky” as a valorising basement. Making use of innovating equipment and novel observing techniques, it aims at (i) strengthening our understanding of the Universe and our knowledge of our island territory (through continuous observations of the sky from Reunion Island and observations of Reunion from the sky), and (ii) increase our capacity-building for education, outreach and touristic attractivity of Reunion around the preservation and observation of the night sky.

Under the supervision of "Directeur de Recherche" at IRD your work will consist in leading research activities related to transient sky studies, including Space Science Awareness and/or transient phenomena from the more distant Universe. This work will be carried out following either an observational approach or a more phenomenological modelling. The covered topics will be directly linked to the potential development of the TAMARINS telescope, a robotic instrument project meant to open a new window on transient sky astrophysics from Reunion Island, notably for the observations of small bodies in the close terrestrial environment as well as for studying distant cosmic events.

In this context, your activities will be as follows:

• Contribute to exploiting forthcoming surveys of transient phenomena and variable sources identified by recently-commissioned observatories such as Vera Rubin
• Develop reliable methods to allow their real-time classification
• Participate to their multi-wavelength follow-up, either with on-going programs that you will be able to join, or by leading new observing time proposals
• Evaluate how the future TAMARINS telescope could bring additional constraints on these populations of transient fading sources as observed from Reunion Island
• Model the distance distribution pertaining to the most relevant populations of such short-lived phenomena
• Your future working team

You will join the Research unit “Unité Mixte de Recherche Espace-Dev ” and you will be based at IRD in Sainte-Clotilde (Reunion Island). Within the SkyRUN program, you will interact with the different partners involved in the project, which mostly include members of Espace-Dev with expertise in remote-sensing and geomatics based at the SEAS-OI station of St-Pierre (Réunion), members of “Université de La Réunion ” from the Energy-Lab laboratory and the “UFR Sciences et Technologies ”, as well as members from CNRS through the “Observatoire des Sciences de l’Univers de la Réunion ” (OSUR). You will also work in close interaction with SkyRUN members based in the French mainland, especially from the Astrophysics Department of CEA-Saclay and from the IJCLab research unit (Orsay). Possible connections with the local astronomical observatory “Les Makes” (Reunion Island) will be considered depending on the opportunities that may arise from your research activities.