Missions

University of Lille offers a 34-month fixed-term contract researcher position to work on the recently funded project ACCTS (“Assessing cirrus cloud thinning strategies by learning from aerosol-cirrus interactions in natural and perturbed conditions”). This project, led by the University of Lille in collaboration with Sorbonne University and international partners, addresses the critical challenge of understanding cirrus clouds in climate studies. We are seeking postdoctoral researchers to contribute to our mission of advancing knowledge on how aerosols influence cirrus formation and evolution under both natural and highly polluted conditions, and how these processes can be represented in models to theoretically assess the potential of cirrus cloud thinning as a
climate intervention strategy.

Activités

The selected candidate will investigate aerosol-cirrus interactions during episodic high-pollution events such as desert dust outbreaks, volcanic eruptions, or wildfires. The work will begin with the identification and cataloguing of relevant case studies, combining satellite observations, reanalyses, and geostationary imagery to track the formation and evolution of cirrus under strongly perturbed conditions. Building on these case studies, the candidate will develop methodologies to distinguish aerosol-induced modifications in cirrus from background meteorological variability, including the formulation of new metrics to evaluate the efficiency of different aerosol types in triggering cirrus thinning. Particular emphasis will be placed on assessing the influence of aerosol composition, size, and aging as particles are transported from their source regions to cirrus altitudes, using both observational data and chemical transport models such as WRF-Chem or CHIMERE. Finally, radiative impacts of aerosol-perturbed cirrus will be quantified.

Compétences

. PhD in atmospheric sciences
• Knowledge of cloud physics
• Experience in algorithm development and satellite remote sensing
• Good written and spoken English
• Ability to work independently as well as in a team
• Proficiency in programming languages (e.g. Python, R, Fortran)

Contexte de travail

The successful candidate will join the Clouds and Radiation team at LOA, Université of Lille.
They will work in close connection with researchers from Sorbonne University, the University of Vienna, and the Forschungszentrum Jülich. Regular exchanges and research visits across partner institutes will ensure strong integration of the results into modelling frameworks and comparative analyses within the project.

Le poste se situe dans un secteur relevant de la protection du potentiel scientifique et technique (PPST), et nécessite donc, conformément à la réglementation, que votre arrivée soit autorisée par l'autorité compétente du MESR.