Missions

The duties of the engineer (M/F) will mostly center around 2 axes, the first two of these axes being of paramount importance for the CNRS-INSU national facility. The engineer will :

(1) manage the NanoSIMS instrument /facility including maintenance and development in close interaction with the manufacturer
(2) provide operational help to the users, establish technical characteristics and implementation of science projects submitted to the facility

In close association with the MNHN engineer from the staff, the hired engineer (M/F) will ensure the instrumental maintenance and daily logistics of the NanoSIMS 50 instrument, of the rooms dedicated to the facility and of dedicated instruments required for sample handling, preparation and characterization. The engineer (M/F) will ensure constant and personalized interactions with the CAMECA after sales service. This activity is part of the warranty included in the annual service contract. In this framework, the hired engineer (M/F) will settle without delay any failure or operation anomaly and, when necessary, will organize the on-site reception of CAMECA engineers in charge of technical interventions. This technical, logistic and administrative part of the work is a major task of the job and requires a good personal organization of the time schedule.

Beyond this maintenance task, the hired engineer (M/F) will operate the instrument in the framework of CNRS-INSU national facility in association with the MNHN research engineer of the facility. He/she will also assist expert users of the laboratory for their analytical developments and their measurements. This analytical task will represent only a half-time activity, the other half being ensured by the second engineer. With a participation to the facility meetings, the engineer (M/F) will participate to the scientific animation of the facility and will be committed to develop together with the other team members a pool of reference samples and analytical protocols useful to all users. These developments and the active participation to data acquisition and analysis will result in writing scientific publications.

Activités

Main tasks
• Diagnose malfunctions of the instruments
• Plan the use of the instruments and ensure their daily maintenance
• Give expertise or technical advice
• Ensure training and coaching of users
• Analyse, use, validate and interpret results

Compétences

Knowledge
• Quality concepts applied to chemical analysis techniques
• Mathematics and computer tools necessary to put the results to use
• Sample handling and preparation techniques
• English level B2 to C1 (common european reference framework for languages)

Operational skills
• Use softwares of results interpretation
• Use computer to drive instruments and data acquisition
• Work in a team

SIMS experience allowing the applicant to be rapidly efficient in the framework of the CNRS national facility and MNHN service will be appreciated

Contexte de travail

The hired engineer (M/F) will work at the Institut de Minéralogie,de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie (IMPMC) located the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 61 rue Buffon, Paris 05, France

IMPMC is a pluridisciplinary institute in physics, Earth sciences and biophysics-bio computer science, installed at the heart of Paris within Sorbonne University and the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Being a historical laboratory in mineralogy and material physics, its research strategy is based on ambitious projects in condensed matter physics, in broad sense Earth sciences and in life sciences, the three main components of the laboratory.

In this framework, being a Museum and CNRS national facility, the NanoSIMS can be used by all Museum researchers and a large scientific community including all CNRS laboratories associated with the CNRS Earth and Universe division. In France, this instrument is the only one used to address the IMPMC and MNHN scientific projects dealing with the study of extraterrestrial matter, of early Earth rocks, of the Earth interior mineralogy, of the environment and past and present climate and finally of interactions between human activities and the biosphere.

The NanoSIMS at the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle is driven by a team of three researchers associated with the facility and two engineers in charge of its regular operation and having an internationally recognized SIMS experience. As a result, this instrument is one of the most scientifically productive NanoSIMS in the world. The hired engineer (M/F) will work in this team in close collaboration with the scientific manager and the other engineer.