Missions

This research engineer position in scientific computing is associated to the ERC Synergy project "Phase-space-inspired numerical methods for high-frequency wave scattering: from semiclassical analysis through numerical analysis to implementation".

The design of fast and reliable algorithms for the numerical simulation of high-frequency acoustic and electromagnetic waves is a longstanding open problem in computational mathematics. These waves underpin a plethora of communication and imaging technologies such as medical imaging, therefore any progress towards solving this problem will have wide impact. This international project aims to design, analyse, and implement new methods that are faster and more reliable than the current state of the art, by exploiting techniques from semiclassical analysis, an area of pure mathematics specifically designed to study high-frequency problems. This will be achieved by combining expertise of the three partner teams of the project in semiclassical analysis (led by Jeffrey Galkowski, professor at University College London), numerical analysis (led by Euan Spence, professor at University of Bath) and scientific computing (led by Pierre-Henri Tournier, research engineer at Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions).

The hired person will work under the direction of the scientific computing team of Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions in Paris, in close collaboration with the researchers and post-doctoral fellows of the project at University of Bath and University College London, and will be tasked with developing and implementing new efficient numerical methods for high-frequency wave propagation problems in the finite element open-source software FreeFEM developed at Laboratoire Jacques Louis Lions.

Activities

- Take part in the design, and implement innovative methods for the numerical solution of wave propagation problems within the FreeFEM software, using high-performance computing
- Optimize the code for performance
- Integrate the new methods in the high-level domain-specific language (DSL) of FreeFEM to facilitate their adoption and use by non-specialist users
- Test and validate the methods, including on benchmarks arising from seismic and medical imaging applications

Associated activities:

- Write the documentation of the new methods
- Transfer knowledge in scientific computing to researchers and post-doctoral fellows of the project (experts in semiclassical analysis at University College London and experts in numerical analysis at University of Bath)
- Participate in establishing strategies to disseminate the methods developed, in particular within the computational acoustic and electromagnetic communities
- Participate in the writing of scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals
- Present results at workshops and conferences
- Contribute to the writing of progress reports for the project

Skills

- Experience in software development and optimization of scientific codes
- Expertise in modern C++ development
- Proficiency in version control tools (git)
- Knowledge of at least one of the parallel programming paradigms (MPI, OpenMP, GPU)
- Proficiency in both spoken and written English is essential (work will be carried out in close collaboration with the UK partners)

Knowledge or experience in one or more of the following areas will also be appreciated:
- Code performance analysis and debugging tools for parallel applications
- The finite element method
- Domain decomposition methods

Interpersonal skills:
- Excellent oral, written and interpersonal communication skills
- Development of creative solutions
- Enthusiasm and self-discipline
- Ability to report
- Ability to organize and prioritize workload to meet deadlines
- Determination to work towards personal and team goals and overcome obstacles
- Strong drive for teamwork within a dynamic research group

Work Context

The research engineer will be hired within the Jacques-Louis Lions Laboratory located 4 place Jussieu in Paris. The laboratory, established in 1969, is named after its founder Jacques-Louis Lions. It is a joint research unit with Sorbonne University, University of Paris and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). The Jacques-Louis Lions Laboratory is the largest laboratory in France and one of the leading ones in the world for training and research in applied mathematics. It hosts activities of two second-year masters, which represent around one hundred students. Its areas of research cover analysis, modeling, and high-performance scientific computing for a variety of phenomena represented by partial differential equations (PDEs). With approximately 100 professors, researchers, engineers, administrative staff, and as many doctoral or post-doctoral students, the laboratory engages with the economic world and various scientific areas across a wide array of applications: fluid dynamics ; theoretical physics, mechanics and chemistry ; control, optimization and finance ; medicine and biology ; signal and data processing. The recruited person will join the scientific computing team of the laboratory and will also be associated to the INRIA Alpines team, a joint research group between INRIA and LJLL which focuses on high performance scientific computing.

Constraints and risks

Regular trips to London and Bath to collaborate in person with the UK teams