ofertas na EDF em França

Organisation/Company École nationale des ponts et chaussées Research Field Engineering » Maritime engineering Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Positions Postdoc Positions Country France Application Deadline 10 Sep 2025 - 23:59 (Europe/Paris) Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - MSCA Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? Yes

Context

In the Saint-Venant Hydraulics Laboratory (LHSV), we are seeking an exceptional researcher with a PhD (with no more than 8 years of full-time equivalent research experience), who is interested in joining our team to study characterizing 3D ocean/coastal wave propagation, breaking wave statistics and interactions with fixed offshore structures, in the framework of the Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships program 2025.

The design and survival of offshore structures are determined by wind and wave impacts. Obtaining accurate knowledge of the wave forces is an essential step in the design of Offshore Wind Turbines (OWT’s). Structures are designed considering both their operation under normal conditions and their survival under extreme conditions, using a series of Design Load Cases (DLC’s). To evaluate the survival of OWT’s, it is necessary to estimate the maximum load that is expected during the structure’s lifetime, which is known as the ULS (Ultimate Limit State). Then, a security factor is applied to take into account the uncertainties in the method used to define the maximum load and to define the acceptable level of risk. In industrial studies, the maximum load is estimated based on the wind and wave conditions with a 50-year return period, which are calculated using semi-probabilistic approaches, as defined by international standards. Estimating the structural fatigue requires local wave time series and estimates of loads on the structure. In both of these cases, these methods thus require an accurate estimation of the local sea state around the structure.

However, the stochastic nature of the environmental conditions (e.g. wind, waves) makes this a challenging task.

In the LHSV, we have been working on the development of phase-resolving numerical wave propagation models capable of simulating accurately fully nonlinear and dispersive waves in the coastal and offshore zone for well over a decade. Recent projects have been focused on reproducing well the effects of wave breaking in fully nonlinear potential flow (FNPF) models in 2D and 3D models. To this day, there is a lack of openly available data to validate 3D wave propagation and wave-structure interaction models because of the challenges in measuring accurately the spatial and temporal variability of wave conditions and wave forces on structures at the scale of a wind farm. High spatial and temporal resolution observations of 3D wave fields and their impacts on structures are thus needed. Thus, the first phase of the 3DWaveBI project consisted in:

• improving 3D models of wave propagation and resultant wave forces, including breaking waves, and
• creating a laboratory data set characterizing the propagation, transformation, and breaking of irregular and multi-directional waves, including wave impacts on a structure, over a spatially variable bathymetry to validate the modeling approaches.

Objectives

One of the main objectives of the 3DWaveBI project is to improve the estimation of 3D local wave conditions and wave forces on structures in irregular and multi-directional sea states, including wave breaking impacts. This is particularly important for sites with complex bathymetry to improve the estimation of the ULS. The experimental measurements aim to respond to these needs with three main goals:

1) characterizing the spatial variability of sea states as a function of the bathymetric changes using measurements made with wave gauges placed along transects oriented along the slope of the bottom bathymetry,

2) estimating the spatial distribution of the associated wave breaking statistics from optical measurements of the presence of foam generated during wave breaking (using threshold methods and AI to complete the image analysis), and

3) evaluating the wave forces (both breaking and non-breaking) on the structure, here a monopile-type foundation, from a force transducer installed inside the cylindrical structure.

In addition, high frequency images of specific breaking events may allow identifying the type (spilling versus plunging) of wave breaking, and tracing the limit of runup during time periods of focused around severe wave impact events.

This study focused on wave propagation and breaking over a variable bathymetry in the shape of an idealized submarine dune, whereas most commonly-used engineering models neglect bathymetric effects on wave breaking and the resultant loads on the structure. The experimental measurements were completed in 2 series of tests focused on measuring complex (irregular, nonlinear) sea states with and without the presence of the structure, for 2 water depths, and a variety of wave conditions defined to be representative of real sites.

The results of the analyses of the experimental study will provide an important data source for continued wave model development and validation. This work may be focused on FNPF or other, efficient numerical or AI wave propagation models.

The desired candidate should have experience and interest in data analysis and further experimental work or numerical wave modeling. The proposed project can begin with the analysis of the existing experimental observations and then further develop one of the above-mentioned research themes, in coordination with the host laboratory.

PI and host laboratory

The LHSV (https://www.saint-venant-lab.fr/ ) specializes in research and development in the field of fluid mechanics applied to hydraulics and the environment and the application of research concerning riverine, maritime, coastal and harbor free surface flows. The laboratory increases understanding of waves, hydraulics, and the associated sediment transport, and develops methods and tools ranging from regional (ocean, watershed) to local scales concerning fluid-structure interactions. Over the last decade, researchers in the free surface hydrodynamics group have also worked in six projects with France Énergies Marines (FEM). These projects have covered the improvement of estimates of local wave conditions, wave breaking and its impacts on structures (in 2D), current modeling and their impacts on submarine cables, submarine dune evolution, and cable landfall site morphological evolution.

The selected postdoctoral fellow will join a dynamic and experienced research team bringing together researchers from the École nationale des ponts et chaussées (ENPC) and the National Hydraulics and Environment Laboratory (LNHE) of EDF R&D, including Jeffrey Harris and Michel Benoit.

Interested candidates should contact Dr. Marissa Yates (marissa.yates@enpc.fr ) as soon as possible. Emails should include a CV and a brief motivation letter.

E-mail marissa.yates@enpc.fr

Research Field Engineering » Maritime engineering Education Level PhD or equivalent

Specific Requirements

Research Field: Wave hydrodynamics, wave-structure interactions,

Languages ENGLISH Level Excellent

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible, candidates must, by the September 10th, 2025 deadline:

- Hold a doctorate (or have defended a doctoral thesis);

- Have a maximum of eight years experience in research (full-time equivalent) after obtaining their (first) doctoral degree;

- Comply with the MSCA program's mobility rule: they must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the beneficiary (for European Postdoctoral Fellowships), or the host organisation for the outgoing phase (for Global Postdoctoral Fellowships) for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the call deadline.

For more details on the conditions, please consult the MSCA PF 2025 call.