The Rock Mechanics group at the laboratoire de Géologie of Ecole Normale Supérieure, in Paris France, is opening the following three positions:
1. A post-doctoral fellow / laboratory manager: Part (60%) of the project will consist in 1) helping with the development a new tri-axial gas apparatus (“Paterson” inspired); 2) co-supervise PhD. students; 3) help handle, maintain and develop some of the existing equipment. The rest of the project will be dedicated to a personal project, for which the candidate will be able to use all of the laboratory facilities, which includes three tri-axial vessels, equipped with acoustics, a Griggs apparatus and a number of in-house analytical techniques (XRD, SEM, Raman, EBSD, micro-topography, particle size analyzer,…). Applicants must have a PhD. and strong experience in experimental rock physics and/or rock mechanics, with in an important emphasis in handling and maintaining high-pressure equipment. Applicants should propose their own research project (1 page maximum) and submit a CV, plus three letters of recommendation and send them to: Alexandre Schubnel (aschubnel [at] geologie.ens.fr (aschubnel[at]geologie[dot]ens[dot]fr)) and Jérôme Fortin (fortin [at] geologie.ens.fr (fortin[at]geologie[dot]ens[dot]fr)). Expected net salary is 30-35k€/year (depending on the candidate experience) + 10k€/year of research funding for their project. The position is available 3 years, renewable for two years, contingent upon performance. Deadline for application is September 15th 2016, but the position will remain opened until a suitable candidate has been found. Earliest starting date is October 1st 2016.
2. A post-doctoral fellow: the project consists in looking at the influence of phase transformations on intermediate and deep earthquake triggering. On a practical point of view, experiments will be performed in a newly designed solid medium deformation (Griggs type) apparatus equipped with acoustics, which was installed at ENS Paris early 2014. Additional experiments may be performed in the multi-anvil deformation apparatus (D-DIA) operational on the GSECARS beam line of the Advanced Photon Source synchrotron in Argonne Illinois, USA. The successful candidate will participate in the supervision of a PhD. project. Applicants must hold a PhD. with some experience in solid pressure medium rock deformation experiments. Applicants should submit a research statement (1 page maximum), a CV, plus three letters of recommendation and send them to: Alexandre Schubnel (aschubnel [at] geologie.ens.fr (aschubnel[at]geologie[dot]ens[dot]fr)) and Nadege Hilairet (nadege.hilairet [at] univ-lille1.fr (nadege[dot]hilairet[at]univ-lille1[dot]fr)). Expected net salary is 25-30k€/year (depending on the candidate previous experience). The position is available 2 years, renewable for one year, contingent upon performance. Deadline for application is September 15th 2016, but the position will remain opened until a suitable candidate has been found. Earliest starting date is October 1st 2016.
3. A PhD. candidate on “Acoustic monitoring and triggering of shearing instability in granular media”. Laboratory studies of granular friction have emerged as a powerful tool for investigating dynamics of seismic faults, such as local static and remote dynamic triggering of earthquakes. However, the physical origin of dynamic triggering still remains a challenging issue due to small strain amplitude of impinging seismic waves (~10-6 ). Advances in granular physics and acoustics have paved the way for better understanding of how seismic waves may trigger fault slips. The goals of this PhD. project are 1) to investigate the granular shear instability (earthquake nucleation) in finite-thickness granular media by acoustic probing; and 2) study the causal effect of impinging elastic waves on their nucleation by nonlinear acoustic pumping. This interdisciplinary experimental project will be held in two distinct laboratories: Institut Langevin (ESPCI Paristech) a leading international institute in acoustics, and ENS Paris. Applicants must hold a MsC., or equivalent, with a background in Geophysics, Physics and/or Acoustics. Applicants should submit a motivation letter (1 page maximum), a CV, plus three letters of recommendation and send them to: Alexandre Schubnel (aschubnel [at] geologie.ens.fr (aschubnel[at]geologie[dot]ens[dot]fr)), Harsha Bhat (bhat [at] ipgp.fr (bhat[at]geologie[dot]ens[dot]fr)) and Xiaoping Jia (xiaoping.jia [at] espci.fr (xiaoping[dot]jia[at]espci[dot]fr)). Expected net salary is 20k€/year during 3 years. Deadline for application is September 15th 2016, but the position will remain opened until a suitable candidate has been found. Earliest starting date is October 1st 2016.
These three projects are (some only partially) funded within the the framework of the European Research Council Consolidator grant project REALISM (“Reproducing EArthquakes in the Laboratory: Imaging, Speed and Mineralogy”). The École Normale Supérieure (ENS), founded in 1794, is an elite higher education institution for advanced graduate studies, and a prestigious international research center. It encompasses fourteen teaching and research departments, spanning the main humanities and sciences disciplines. ENS Paris is situated in the heart of Paris, one of the largest cultural centers in Europe.