진학프로석·박사 채용 접수 플랫폼

Employer Description

The IRD (French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development) is a multidisciplinary French public research organization that has been engaged in equitable partnerships with countries of the Global South and French overseas territories for nearly 80 years. As a key player in the international development agenda, its priorities align with the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Together, scientists and the Institute’s partners propose concrete solutions to address the global challenges faced by societies and the planet. This win-win relationship positions science and innovation as major drivers of development. The Institute operates under the joint supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs

The Structure You Will Join

HydroSciences Montpellier (HSM) brings together scientists from IRD, the University of Montpellier, CNRS, and IMT Mines Alès in the field of Water Sciences, including hydrology, ecohydrology, and hydrogeology. HSM has developed significant expertise in surface processes, with a focus on studying their functioning in tropical and Mediterranean regions. The unit plays an active role in observation networks, such as AMMA-CATCH (West Africa) and KARST (France), part of the OZCAR research infrastructure. HSM has developed extensive expertise in flux measurement systems at the Surface-Atmosphere interface. These systems integrate a range of meteorological, pluviometric, and micro-meteorological instruments (e.g., energy, water, and carbon fluxes measured using the eddy covariance method), known as "Flux Towers." The collected data allow researchers to study the functional traits of agroecosystems. To support this research, HSM also develops ecohydrological models aimed at tracking and projecting energy and material balances, as well as hydrological and vegetation resource evolution in studied regions. These areas of expertise are recognized internationally, notably through the coordination and structuring of measurement sites in the Global South (e.g., RIFT/PEPR FairCarboN project).

An attractive mission

This project brings together 13 observation sites in tropical and mediterranean regions to study the biophysical and biogeochemical functioning of ecosystems. One of the project's key tasks focuses on surface models capable of simulating energy, water, and carbon exchanges between the surface and the atmosphere.

Your main mission falls within this task, under the supervision of Jérôme Demarty, and in close collaboration with Jordi Etchanchu. You will work on modeling the functioning of agroforestry systems by implementing a mechanistic ecohydrological model adapted to the Sahelian context. The selected model is SISPAT (Braud et al., 1995), in its various versions, capable of simulating key biophysical and biogeochemical processes in a coupled manner. The model will be deployed over a multi-year period of seven years (2018–present)

In this context, and in support of the RIFT project coordinating team based at HSM, your activities will include:

• Contributing to modeling studies conducted at the Niakhar site in Senegal by deploying the SiSPAT model.
• Determining the required level of vegetation cover representation in the model to accurately simulate the dynamics of energy, water, and carbon fluxes in this type of agroforestry system. In its current versions, the SISPAT model does not finely separate the functioning of trees and crops, which may require further development.
• Participating in the coordination of the modeling group, notably by supervising developments, proposing common analysis protocols, and establishing diagnostics to intercompare models.
• Disseminating modeling results through scientific publications.
• Potentially engaging in collaborative actions and representing the project within national and international flux measurement networks in which the consortium aims to participate (e.g., FLUXNET, ICOS).
• Contributing to training and knowledge transfer for partners and field stakeholders.

Your Future Team

Based in Montpellier (Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Montpellier), you will join the Hydrology-Ecohydrology-Climate (HEC) team, which consists of 28 members, the majority of whom belong to IRD. You will contribute to internal discussions on the development of innovative methodologies in modeling.