Contract Research Professor Coastal Engineering

Présentation

Durée : 3 ans

Institution

The École nationale des ponts et chaussées is a higher education and research institution. Its areas of excellence include mechanics, civil engineering, materials science, applied mathematics, computer science and data science, climate and the environment, urban planning, transportation and mobility, economics, and sociology.

Under the supervision of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and operating as an EPSCP (public institution of a scientific, cultural, and professional nature), its missions include initial and continuing education, research, the dissemination of knowledge, technology transfer to economic sectors, and support for business creation. Its activities are conducted at both the national and international levels.

With a staff of 450, it is primarily organized around an Education and Research division (12 laboratories, 2,000 students, and 2,000 faculty members) and another division that brings together the resources and services necessary to fulfill its primary mission of education and research.

Since its founding in 1747, the oldest engineering school has consistently remained at the forefront of innovation in the organization and content of its programs, in constant alignment with research of recognized excellence that it aims to leverage for added value.

Since September 2023, it has been working with all its stakeholders to develop its new strategic plan, Les Ponts Ambition 2030, with the goal of becoming a world-class research and training center on issues related to the ecological transition, building on and expanding its long history of contributing to the transitions that have shaped societies on a global scale.

The École nationale des ponts et chaussées (ENPC) is a founding member of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris alongside five other prestigious engineering schools: École Polytechnique, ENSTA, ENSAE Paris, Télécom Paris, and Télécom SudParis.

Background and Job Description

In January 2025, ENPC, in partnership with ENSTA, launched an international master’s program called “OFFWIND.” This master’s program focuses on careers in offshore wind energy and leads to a degree in the Energy track from the Institut Polytechnique de Paris. The master’s program also includes a doctoral track, primarily funded by industrial partners. The first year of the master’s program brings students together on the Parisian campuses of ENSTA in Palaiseau and ENPC in Champ-sur-Marne. The second year takes place on ENSTA’s Brest campus.

In this context, ENPC is recruiting a Lecturer-Researcher (EC) in oceanography or coastal engineering, specializing in coastal risks (erosion and/or flooding). The Faculty Member will conduct research at the Saint-Venant Hydraulics Laboratory (LHSV), teach and supervise students at École nationale des ponts et chaussées or Institut Polytechnique de Paris (IPP).

Teaching Responsibilities

In collaboration with the director of the Offwind Master’s program and the Civil Engineering and Construction Department at ENPC, the successful candidate will have academic responsibility for the Offwind Master’s program at ENPC. They will oversee the implementation of the M1 courses in the Offwind track offered at ENPC (1 course in the first semester and 7 courses in the second semester), participate in the track’s governing bodies (curriculum development committees, admissions panels), monitor student progress, and may participate in teaching certain courses.

Research mission

The candidate will propose a research project that aligns with the LHSV’s strategy. Research topics may include open-surface hydrodynamics, stratified flows, coastal and shoreline morphodynamics, and fluid-structure interactions in the marine environment.

The candidate will have a solid understanding of coastal physics, including wave hydrodynamics, sediment transport, morphological evolution, and mathematical modeling of flows. Experience in numerical simulation and/or experimentation (laboratory testing) will be particularly valued.

The candidate will demonstrate proficiency in the analysis of in situ and/or remote sensing data, the development of numerical models, and technological innovation to improve the resilience of coastal and/or littoral zones to natural hazards. In addition, the research project will draw on recognized expertise in one of these fields to complement ongoing research activities at the LHSV and in other laboratories at the Institut Polytechnique de Paris (including ENPC) in collaboration with the Interdisciplinary Centers (CIMO - —Interdisciplinary Center for Seas and Oceans—, E4C —Energy4Climate—, and Hi! Paris for artificial intelligence and data analysis).

The candidate will demonstrate a commitment to advancing knowledge of coastal processes and their impact on coastal risks (erosion, flooding). In particular, wave-structure interactions are a key component of processes in coastal and/or littoral zones, with significant economic, societal, and environmental implications. Research conducted to better predict coastal processes—from local to regional and multi-year spatio-temporal scales—will contribute to the Ministry’s missions as well as to the excellence of research conducted at ENPC.

Introduction to LHSV (Laboratoire d’Hydraulique Saint-Venant)

The LHSV, a joint research unit of ENPC and EDF R&D’s National Hydraulics and Environment Laboratory (LNHE), conducts research aimed at predicting, on the one hand, open-surface hydrodynamics (lakes, rivers, oceans) and, on the other hand, associated physical processes (interactions with structures, sediments, ecosystems, etc.) over various time scales: from a few hours for high accuracy linked to knowledge of a specific hazard (flood, storm, etc.), to several years for a hypothetical climate (IPCC RCP, etc.). To address the challenges of the ecological transition, research is focused on two main areas: i) the consolidation of techniques useful to hydraulic engineers (numerical forecasting of waves, flood waves, erosion, etc.) in the context of climate change and technological innovations (AI), and ii) improved modeling of hydrodynamics coupled with various processes (primarily: temperature and living organisms in lakes and rivers, the rheology of sediment suspensions, eddies, and marine structures). The LHSV thus brings together a wide range of expertise and has excellent resources at its disposal for its research (the EDF cluster and experimental facilities at the EDF Lab Chatou site). It is an ideal place to develop ambitious projects in modeling the physics (mechanics) of environmental hydro-systems, with the aim of making a significant contribution to improving simulations of environmental hydrodynamics. A description of the Saint-Venant Hydraulics Laboratory is available at https://www.saint-venant-lab.fr/

Profile

• Category A position (Executive). Three-year fixed-term contract. Possibility of secondment. Salary based on regulations or according to qualifications.
• Ph.D. holder, preferably in physical oceanography, mechanical oceanography, or applied mathematics, with or without postdoctoral experience.
• Teaching experience in science, engineering, or applied mathematics.
• Organizational skills, management ability, creativity, dynamism, autonomy, and initiative.
• Fluency in English is essential.
• Interpersonal skills: ability to lead and negotiate within a scientific community that is both academic and industrial.

Location

Location: EDF’lab Chatou for research, ENPC Marne-la-Vallée for teaching.

Access: 40 mn from downtown Paris via the RER A (Rueil-Malmaison and Noisy-Champs stations) or by highway (A86, Chatou exit; A4, Marne-la-Vallée Cité Descartes exit).