A position of research fellow (permanent position state employee) in #LCA based in Nantes is open to competition in 2023 (position number CRCN18): "System modelling and Life Cycle Assessment". The deadline for the application is March 17.
The position is subjected to a competition according to french administrative rules, so I highly recommend candidates to take contact for a full explanation.
1- Background
A major player in European research on cities and territories, transport and civil engineering, Université Gustave Eiffel, created on January, 1st 2020 from the merger of Ifsttar (French Institute of Transport, Planning and Network Science and Technologies) and the Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée, is a scientific, cultural and professional public institution (like all French universities), with an experimental status and a national presence, which make it a unique university in France. It aims to be a major player in research on transport and cities. The research labs of Université Gustave Eiffel conduct both upstream and more finalised research and expertise in a wide variety of disciplines (mathematics and computer science, electronics, materials, chemistry, civil engineering, geosciences, social sciences, psychology, economics, management, innovation sciences, communication, ethics, history, arts, literature etc. ) and in fields with a strong societal impact such as transport, infrastructures, natural hazards and cities, aiming to improve the living conditions of our fellow citizens and, more broadly, to promote the sustainable development of our societies.
The research and expertise activities within MAST (Materials and Structures) Research Department mainly relate to the following four themes: (1) Durability of construction materials and safety of buildings, civil structures and infrastructures, (2) From structural health monitoring to assessment and maintenance of bridges and highways, (3) Circular economy in the field of construction for a sustainable urban metabolism, (4) New construction materials and techniques for major innovations in transport infrastructure, civil works for energy and cities
The proposed position is located in the GPEM laboratory ("Aggregates and materials development processes"). The researchers in the team have a wide range of skills, from applied mathematics to civil engineering, physics, process engineering and chemistry. Moreover, this research is very varied, ranging from the very fundamental to the applied. These original features, as well as the skills and complementarity of the technical team, are the strength of the laboratory, as they allow to have, on the one hand, a global vision of a scientific problem and, on the other hand, to propose original treatment approaches combining experiments, numerical simulations and theoretical analyses. The three main research themes of the GPEM laboratory are: (i) complex materials and optimised processes, (ii) materials recycling and (iii) raw earth. The scientific approaches and methods used can be grouped into three transversal axes: (i) experimental design, (ii) numerical simulation and (iii) life cycle assessment (LCA).
This position is part of the MAST theme "(3) circular economy of construction for urban metabolism ", with a specialisation on the "GPEM (iii) Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)" axis. The aim is not to carry out LCA of products, but to conduct research on the method itself, while relying on real case studies in connection with socio-economic actors. The GPEM team is at the origin of a new methodological framework, called transition LCA, intended to project transition solutions in long time frames and given geographical areas. This new framework is designed to take into account temporal changes in the external context (e.g. energy production systems), territorial constraints (e.g. limited resource deposits or global limits at local scales), while integrating the actors involved in the transition solutions and their levers of action. This new framework opens up numerous research challenges to enable the operational deployment of transition LCA in the long term. These challenges include the integration of scale change methods, the treatment of uncertainties, the systematic generation and simultaneous evaluation of thousands of prospective scenarios, the visualisation of data to enable the understanding of complex results by non-expert actors, the processing and analysis of mass data, possibly using artificial intelligence techniques, to detect relevant environmental data and the development of interdisciplinary cross-databases.
One of the foundations of this research is to deploy digital tools that can be used by researchers and companies in a free and open manner, with the societal objective of guiding actors (companies, communities, citizens, etc.) in their innovation processes and their development and deployment strategies. The international community is organising to develop this type of industrial ecology platform, which brings together data, programmes and multi-product, multi-scale methods. This recruitment will allow University Gustave Eiffel to actively contribute to this growing research.
2- Job Content
The person recruited will conduct research on Life Cycle Assessment applied to the stakes of ecological transition and particularly circular economy. She/He will have to work with the members of the GPEM laboratory (Aggregates and processes for the development of materials), of the MAST department (Materials and Structure) to participate in the environmental assessment of constructive innovations and alternative materials developed or qualified by these research entities and thus help orient more relevant and efficient research efforts.
The person recruited as a Research Fellow is expected to be involved in production, supervision, research promotion and participation in the development of research programmes at different levels (regional, national, European, international). In particular, the candidate will be expected to publish her/his work in international peer-reviewed journals that meet the standards of her/his discipline, but also in journals or books in the more applied fields of the laboratory. It is also expected to communicate the work to peers, but also to the general public. She/he may also be required to contribute to or carry out expertise tasks. He/she will also participate in the collective scientific life of the laboratory, the department and the university.
In addition to his or her research production activity, a Research Associate is also expected to develop, in the long term, a diversified activity in all or part of the following activities:
- Teaching and research training (teaching, supervision of trainees, doctoral and post-doctoral students, participation in juries and bodies or committees related to teaching)
- Research administration and facilitation activities (team facilitation, project coordination, staff management, management of test facilities) which will be reflected in the Grand Ouest region by a strong involvement in the CoDiUM axis (Combining Disciplines for Urban Metabolism) in the IRSTV research federation (https://irstv.ec-nantes.fr/)
- Valorisation and transfer activities (research and industrial contracts, consultancy and advisory activities, transfer of research results to the socio-economic world, contribution to public policy development, dissemination of scientific culture) in particular by participating in the setting up of a National LCA project.
- International activities (participation in European projects, ongoing international collaborations, contributions to the international visibility of the University)
- Scientific outreach (membership of learned societies, editorial boards, scientific committees of institutes, conferences, recruiting committees) particularly with identified networks in the field in France (AgorACV, EcoSD, etc.) and internationally (Metabolism of Cities, International Society for Industrial Ecology, etc.)..
3- Expected profile
The candidate must hold a doctorate (for instance in geophysics, management and decision science, process engineering, applied mathematics) or be able to prove an equivalent level, in particular for foreign candidates (publications, participation in projects, teaching).
Knowledge and experience integrating methodological developments in Life Cycle Assessment and/or industrial ecology are essential. The profile is very open, but the person recruited must have proven skills through scientific publications reflecting one or more of the following skills commonly used in Life Cycle Assessment field: data organisation and processing, statistical methods, programming, input-output modelling, systemic modelling, etc. The research must be based on a strong disciplinary basis, but is inherently transdisciplinary. The candidate will have to show a proven curiosity by keeping up to date with trends and developments in the main professional sectors (construction and civil engineering, energy, agroforestry, transport, etc.), and societal actors (companies, local authorities, citizens, etc.) partners of MAST department, in their participation in the societal effort to decarbonise. The candidate must be able to demonstrate the ability to collaborate outside his/her discipline. Experience abroad or ongoing collaboration with one or more foreign laboratories will be appreciated.
The candidate's dossier should highlight his/her ability to develop the activities (listed above) expected of a Research Fellow. Scientific publications at the highest level (international peer-reviewed journals and/or international conferences), participation in research projects (national and/or European), an aptitude for teamwork and scientific leadership, interpersonal skills and oral and written communication skills in French and English will be particularly appreciated. Scientific rigour, as well as autonomy and organisational skills, are obviously expected.
The person recruited will be assigned to the "GPEM" Laboratory, within the MAST Department, on the university campus in Nantes-Bouguenais.
Useful links :
https://mast.univ-gustave-eiffel.fr/
https://gpem.univ-gustave-eiffel.fr/
https://cv.archives-ouvertes.fr/annaven
https://doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2022.801668
4- Recommendation
The candidate is expected to propose in his/her application a scientific project in line with the activities of the targeted research team and it is therefore strongly recommended to contact the persons indicated below.
Contacts: Anne Ventura, research director at MAST-GPEM laboratory (+0/33) 2 40 84 86 11, Mél. : anne.ventura@univ-eiffel.fr
Patrick Richard, director of MAST-GPEM laboratory (+0/33) 2 40 84 59 41, Mail: patrick.richard@univ-eiffel.fr
François Toutlemonde, director of department MAST (+0/33)1 81 66 83 97 Mail: francois.toutlemonde@univ-eiffel.fr