Researcher Engineer in urban micrometeorological (H/F) – réf : 929

Centrale Nantes is a leading engineering school that graduates engineers, masters students and doctoral candidates from academic programs based on the most up-to-date developments in science and technology and the best practices in management.

As a member of the Écoles Centrales Group (Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes and Paris), our school provides top-quality teaching for highly selected students.

A public institution under the supervision of the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, Centrale Nantes has more than 2,250 students, 500 employees and 600 part-time staff.

Activities :

The person recruited will be attached to the Laboratoire de recherche en Hydrodynamique, Energétique et Environnement Atmosphérique (LHEEA), a CNRS joint research unit under 2 supervisory bodies: Ecole Centrale de Nantes and CNRS.

You will join the 15-member DAUC (Dynamique de l'Atmosphère Urbaine et Côtière) team.

The ANR CITRY project, supported by the Région des Pays de Loire, aims to assess the multi-scale impact of urban trees on the microclimate and dispersion of pollutants. This research is expected to contribute to both fundamental scientific knowledge and practical recommendations in sustainable urban development. It is based on the development and implementation of an unsteady numerical model covering a continuum of scales from the city to the street, and on micro-meteorological and particle measurements carried out by the project partners in a neighbourhood of the city of Nantes since early 2025. The experimental data recorded at high frequency will allow to characterise turbulent exchanges of momentum, heat, humidity, carbon dioxide and pollutant particles in a real urban environment, from the local scale to the scale of the atmospheric boundary layer, and for different atmospheric thermal stabilities and seasonal characteristics of trees (with and without leaves).

As part of the project, you will be responsible for analysing field measurements with the aim of (1) improving our knowledge of the dynamics of the turbulent transfers that occur in the urban rough sub-layer, (2) quantifying the influence of urban trees on these exchanges as well as on the ventilation and dispersion processes within the canopy, and (3) studying the relationship between the concentration of pollutants and microclimatic variables.

Your main activities will include:

• Contribution to gathering experimental data into a FAIR database, in collaboration with the project partners;

• Development of methods for the joint analysis of large-scale meteorology and turbulent processes at the scale of the atmospheric boundary layer and the urban canopy, including the influence of trees, the thermal stability of the atmosphere and the dispersion of particles;

• Dissemination of results in international conferences and scientific journals.

In addition, you will participate to awareness-raising activities and popularisation of science for a non-specialist audience or for local authorities.

Hard skills :

• Expert in atmospheric sciences or fluid dynamics

• Solid experience in data analysis (high-frequency, turbulence, etc)

• Proficiency in a scientific language: Python or Fortran

• Good (written and verbal) proficiency in English

Soft skills :

• Organizational capacity for database management

• Autonomy and taking initiative

• Analytical and synthesizing skills

• Good communication skills (results and developments)

• Ability to interact with researchers working on the project

Required level : Ph-D level training in Atmospheric sciences, Fluid dynamics, or a related discipline

Position information:

• 24-month fixed-term contract

• Position openned to contract and permanent staff

• Category A –Research Engineer

• Full-time position – based in Nantes

• Trips to meet partners (occasional)

• Flexible working hours

• Flexible work cycles (possibility to work 4,5 days a week)

• RTT + addition leaves

• Free parking

• 75% public transport reimbursement

• Sustainable mobility bonus (if cycling and car-pulling)

Pay: in line with state civil pay scale

Position to be filled : October 2025

Recruitment process

The following documents are required for this recruitment process:

• A cover letter

• A CV including scientific publication list

• A letter of support (reference)

HR contact : Guénolée COTTINEAU

Manager contact : Isabelle CALMET

This advert refers to the terms “candidate”, ‘engineer’, “manager”, etc. These designations are to be considered beyond gender and are to be taken in both the feminine and masculine genders.

Centrale de Nantes is committed to equality and diversity. In line with our CSR commitments, this job is open to all.