PhD - knowledge on geoengineering (M/F)

Job Description

Thesis Subject

Topic: the production, circulation and legitimisation of knowledge on marine geoengineering and CO₂ capture and storage technologies in industrial settings.

Detailed description:
1) Geoengineering technologies comprise a diverse range of methods for directly intervening in the climate. Long regarded as a pipe dream, they are now attracting growing scientific and political interest and feature in IPCC scenarios. However, ethical and scientific controversies call their acceptability into question. A distinction is made between solar radiation management (SRM) technologies—which are highly controversial and rejected by the majority of the academic community—and carbon removal (CDR) technologies, which enjoy greater acceptability. Within the CDR sector itself, a marked imbalance is evident: carbon capture, storage and utilisation (CCS/CCUS) are promoted by a number of public and industrial initiatives, whereas marine geoengineering technologies (mCDR) – such as ocean alkalisation and ocean fertilisation – are controversial and marginalised. Yet the ocean is already being utilised as a carbon sink (for geological storage in certain CCS projects and as a potential site for mCDR), creating a tension between the promise of innovation, environmental uncertainties and international governance. This asymmetry raises fundamental questions regarding the evolution of criteria for academic and political acceptability. What criteria determine the acceptability of a technology, and how do these criteria evolve? Which stakeholders contribute to this process? What dynamics lead to the commitment of material and financial resources, the establishment of epistemic standards, and the formulation of public policy? The thesis will seek to answer these questions by comparing CCS/CCUS and mCDRs.
2) The aim of the thesis is (1) to analyse the processes of production, legitimisation and circulation of knowledge on geoengineering by mapping the political, institutional, industrial and scientific actors, the associated discourses and knowledge regimes, in order to (2) understand the construction of scientific acceptability of a technology, and finally (3) its translation into the implementation of public policy – using a comparative approach between schemes at different levels of technological maturity and acceptability. This work will also involve analysing the socio-technical and cultural perceptions associated with the ocean. The findings will highlight the changing scientific and political acceptance of CCS/CCUS and mCDRs; the political, scientific, economic and geopolitical criteria for legitimisation or marginalisation; and the tensions between the climate emergency, innovation and the precautionary principle. The thesis will combine a literature review, a socio-historical approach and qualitative research (semi-structured interviews, observations).
3) The thesis will be supervised by Thibaud Boncourd (political science, UMR Triangle), a specialist in the study of the links between knowledge and power. It will be co-supervised by Olivier Sulpis (marine biogeochemistry, offshore CO₂ storage, UMR CEREGE, AMU), co-chair of a European Marine Board working group tasked with establishing the standards required prior to the deployment of ocean CO₂ removal techniques; and by Marion Maisonobe (Geography of Science, UMR Géographie-cités), project leader of the ANR OCEANLINKS project on the production and circulation of knowledge about the seas and oceans on a global scale from a long-term perspective.

Your Work Environment

The successful candidate will be based at the Triangle laboratory (UMR 5206). They will have a shared workstation. They will become part of the laboratory's collaborative working environment. They will benefit from a research environment directly relevant to their subject area, as well as opportunities to engage with researchers working on issues of expertise, institutions and the international circulation of knowledge. Access to relevant seminars and study days will be available within the three affiliated research units.
The Triangle research centre (https://triangle.ens-lyon.fr/) lies at the crossroads of three major disciplines: political science, the history of economic thought and political philosophy. Since it was set up in 2005, it has been made up of political scientists rooted in empirical social sciences and researchers sensitive to the discursive and historical dimensions of political phenomena; political economy specialists with a humanities and social sciences approach; and historians of political thought and ideas from a variety of disciplines (philosophers, civilisationists, historians, etc.) who have in common that they do not stop at the "great works" and have focused on the contexts in which ideas are produced. These major orientations are reflected in 5 poles and 5 projects, around an object, "the political", defined in the broad sense, as the whole of the processes, the devices and the techniques which in a society direct the conducts and articulate the interests. The research centre has over 300 members with different statuses, including 12 CNRS, 123 EC, 150 PhD students, 3 CNRS ITA, 7 managers attached to the 5 supervisory bodies (ENS, Lyon 2, CNRS, Sciences Po, UJM St Etienne), and around sixty associate researchers.

Constraints and risks

No particular constraints or risks.

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

2300 € gross monthly

Annual leave and RTT

44 jours

Remote Working practice and compensation

Pratique et indemnisation du TT

Transport

Prise en charge à 75% du coût et forfait mobilité durable jusqu’à 300€

About the offer

About the CNRS

The CNRS is a major player in fundamental research on a global scale. The CNRS is the only French organization active in all scientific fields. Its unique position as a multi-specialist allows it to bring together different disciplines to address the most important challenges of the contemporary world, in connection with the actors of change.

CNRS

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