Postdoctoral researcher (M/F): Arctic Climate Change and Its Impacts on Large-Scale Ocean Circulation

Organisation/Company CNRS Department Climat, Environnement, Couplages et Incertitudes Research Field Environmental science Environmental science » Earth science Environmental science » Global change Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Application Deadline 26 Sep 2026 - 00:00 (UTC) Country France Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 15 Oct 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

The project aims to investigate the rapid transformations occurring in the Arctic (ocean, atmosphere, and cryosphere) and their impacts on dense water formation in the Arctic, Nordic, and Barents Seas in response to changes in the cryosphere and air–sea fluxes. The main objective is to assess the consequences of these changes for the North Atlantic subpolar gyre and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), with the aim of reducing uncertainties in climate projections arising from the limitations of current climate models.

• Analyze historical simulations and climate projections from global climate models (low- and high-resolution, including large ensembles).
• Identify the key processes controlling water mass transformation and dense water formation in the Arctic and subarctic regions.
• Investigate the propagation of these water masses into the Arctic Basin and their return to the Nordic Seas and the North Atlantic subpolar gyre.
• Assess the impact of regional changes, including Arctic Atlantification, on these processes and their associated timescales.
• Develop and optimise Python scripts to extract, process, and visualise climate model data.
• Contribute to the scientific interpretation of the results.
• Prepare and publish scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals.
• Present results at team meetings, annual project meetings, and national and international conferences.

The position is based within the Climate Modelling Group (GLOBC) of the CECI laboratory (Coupling, Environment, Climate and Uncertainties) at CERFACS. It is part of the multidisciplinary CLIMArcTIC project (climarctic.cnrs.fr), which aims to improve our understanding and projections of the regional physical and biogeochemical responses of the Arctic to climate change, and to assess the impacts of these transformations on local socio-economic activities and the global climate system. The successful candidate will join a collaborative research team and actively contribute to the scientific activities and exchanges of the CLIMArcTIC consortium.

• Strong scientific programming skills in Python (including libraries such as xarray, NumPy, pandas, and Matplotlib).
• Experience in the analysis of climate or oceanographic data is desirable (e.g., NetCDF, CMIP datasets, regional and global climate models).
• Knowledge of ocean dynamics, climate modelling, geophysical fluid dynamics, or polar climate processes.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively within an interdisciplinary research team.
• Good skills in scientific English, both written and spoken.
• A track record of publications in an international peer-reviewed scientific journal.