The university of Bordeaux is a great dynamic and responsible university that cares about the well-being of its staff. Joining us means working in a privileged environment within a particularly diverse and open professional community, benefiting from welcome and inclusion schemes, training and internal mobility. It means participating in an academic, scientific and human adventure. It means committing to meeting the challenges of the 21st century.
Join the Oceanic and Continental Environments and Palaeoenvironments (EPOC) – laboratory of the University of Bordeaux! This laboratory is a Joint Research Unit under the joint supervision of the University of Bordeaux, the CNRS, Bordeaux INP and the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes. EPOC is a multidisciplinary UMR developing a strong and recognized expertise in ecotoxicology, ecology, biogeochemistry, environmental chemistry, sedimentology, paleoclimatology, coastal oceanography, marine geosciences.
As part of the project Pliocene Hominin Dispersal to southern Africa: Choice or Chance? (PLIODIS) we are recruiting a Post-Doctoral Researcher W/M whose work will focus on new hydroclimate reconstructions in Africa, comparison with numerical climate models and link with hominin dispersal. This project, funded by the European Research Council (ERC), and aims to reconstruct hydroclimate in south east Africa over the Quaternary, compare results with existing numerical climate model simulations and establish some links with hominin dispersal.
Main activities
Paleoclimate reconstructions that document the last millions of years in south east Africa are extremely rare, although hydroclimate changes are crucial to establish links between climate shifts and human evolution. Owing to the limited data available relating to the environment and climate of the regions of paleoanthropological interest, and because of the limitations of the fossil record, it has remained challenging to establish links between climate shifts and human evolution. Alternative approaches based on numerical modelling have been sought, but there is a need to evaluate the climate transient simulations against key paleoclimate records.
This project aims to help fill this gap by generating a new and unique record of precipitation and river discharge changes, as recorded in marine sediment cores off the Zambezi River catchment over the Quaternary. Existing and the new climate records will be used to evaluate numerical climate model simulations in Africa during the Plio-Pleistocene. Some links with hominin dispersal will also be explore.
- Generate the age model (δ18O of benthic foraminifera) and new precipitation and river discharge changes (compound-specific stable carbon and hydrogen isotope, XRF measurements) in marine sediment cores off the Zambezi River
- Synthetize existing climate records around Africa for the Plio-Pleistocene.
- Evaluate recent transient climate model simulations against climate records
- Explore the link with hominin dispersal depending of your interest and expertise: species distribution, density-based or agent-based models
- Writing publications in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals
Your skills
Holder of a PhD in Climate / Paleoclimate, you have prior experience with organic geo/chemistry and/or numerical modelling and an interest in hominid evolution and dispersion.
- You are autonomous and organized in your work and respect deadlines
- You have experience in script-based programming e.g. Python, R, …
- You are proficient in oral and written scientific English in a multicultural work context (level C1 / C2)
Because the project spans multiple disciplines, applicants with strong expertise in one field and openness to the others are welcome to apply. The topic of the Post-doctoral Fellowship is flexible and can be adapted depending of the expertise of the candidate (geochemistry or modelling).
More information
By joining this project you will work within the Paleoclimate team of the EPOC laboratory whose objective is the identification and quantification of atmospheric and oceanic processes involved in long-term and short-term climate changes. You will be supervised by Thibaut CALEY — thibaut.caley@u-bordeaux.fr
Based in Pessac, Gironde, FRANCE – access by tramway line B (stop « François Bordes ») buses, bike. The laboratory is near the city-centre of Bordeaux and about 60 Km of the Atlantic coasts.
- 30-month fixed-term contract
- Gross monthly salary: from 2750€ to 3000€ according to the salary grid
- A training course adapted to support your job taking-up and your professional development
- Up to 50 days of annual leave from the first year (in proportion to the arrival date)
- Until 3 days per week remote work possible depending on the organization of the service
- Participation in complementary social protection and access to social action mechanisms
- 75% coverage of the public transport subscription in Gironde
- Sustainable mobility package for home trips–work
- Access to a staff parking
- Leisure, sport and culture offers for all staff
Recruitment process
Applications are reviewed as they arrive and will be accepted until the position has been filled. Candidates selected for an interview will be contacted by the Recruitment Officer for a first pre-qualification phone conversation. An interview with the supervisor will then be organised by videoconference.
Interested applicants should send a CV, brief statement of qualifications and basis for interest in the position, a list of your relevant publications, and the email addresses of 2 appropriate references to Thibaut CALEY — thibaut.caley@u-bordeaux.fr
Link to job offer: u-bordeaux.fr or EuroAxess