Post-Doctoral position in Atmospheric Chemistry

L’Ineris (Institut national de l'environnement industriel et des risques) est un Établissement Public à caractère Industriel et Commercial (EPIC) et placé sous la tutelle du ministère chargé de l'environnement. Son effectif est de 580 collaborateurs environ dont les 2/3 sont des ingénieurs/docteurs, pour l’essentiel basés à Verneuil-en-Halatte (Oise). Le chiffre d’affaires est de 80M€. Le statut du personnel est de droit privé (convention collective de la chimie). Sa mission : Réaliser ou faire réaliser des études et des recherches permettant de prévenir les risques que les activités économiques font peser sur la santé, la sécurité des personnes et des biens ainsi que sur l’environnement. Travailler à l’Ineris, c’est l’opportunité de mettre en œuvre et développer ses compétences dans le cadre des missions de recherche et d’expertise pour le compte des pouvoirs publics et des industriels. Ces missions intègrent excellence scientifique et technique, maîtrise de la gestion des coûts et des délais, et activités de laboratoire ou de terrain. L’Ineris dispose de moyens d’essais de pointe, souvent uniques en France voire en Europe.
Nos atouts :
A Verneuil en Halatte (site principal) : Environnement de travail privilégié sur un site boisé de 40 ha accessible en transports en commun, à 40mn au nord de Paris.
Une navette “Ineris” au départ de la gare de Creil assure gratuitement le trajet jusqu’à notre site en 10 minutes.
L’Ineris dispose de 30 000 m2 de laboratoires et halles d'essais avec des équipements multiples et à la pointe de la technologie.
Parking clos et surveillé
Restauration subventionnée (ou ticket restaurant pour sites hors Verneuil)
Transports publics remboursés partiellement
Bornes de recharge pour véhicules électriques
Possibilité de télétravail (selon le type de poste occupé)

The knowledge of aerosols (particulate matter, PM) in ambient air is essential to assess health and climate impacts of air pollution. Their sources, formation processes and chemical composition are still poorly known. Biomass burning accounts for a significant part of the primary emissions of fine PM in the ambient air notably in winter period due to wood combustion used for residential heating purposes. This source also emits large quantities of volatile and semi-volatile organic species leading to the formation, via (photo-)chemical processes, of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) accounting for a substantial part of fine PM concentrations. However, SOA formation yields from this source, or from the corresponding SOA precursors emitted, are still poorly documented in the literature especially for night-time processes (involving nitrate radical). Moreover, the toxicological potential of primary and aged biomass burning emissions, or related SOA, is also poorly understood and notably the links between biological responses and particle physicochemical properties.

In this context, the main objectives of this post-doctoral work are to study and understand the SOA formation processes from residential wood-burning appliance emissions (logwood stove) and from typically emitted SOA precursors (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and phenolic compounds or mixture of them). To do so, logwood stove emissions, or pure precursors, will be aged using an oxidant flow reactor (OFR) under different oxidation conditions (OH or NO3 radicals), simulating the diurnal and nocturnal atmospheric processes. A detailed physicochemical characterization of the gaseous and particulate phases will be carried out. The implementation of advanced instrumentation such as a CI-ToF-MS (Chemical Ionization - Time of Flight-Mass Spectrometry), combining several ionization modes (H3O+, NH4+, O2+, I-) and aerosol analysis modules (e.g., Extractive ElectroSpray Ionization or CHARON, CHemical analysis of AeRosol ON-line) will permit to determine and measure, at a molecular level, volatile and semi-volatile organic substances in real time. This will allow the study of the primary particle emission and secondary formation dynamics from the wood log stove emissions, obtained under conditions as representative as possible of a common use. Finally, analysis of potential links between the detailed physicochemical characterization of the gaseous and particulate phases and the biological responses obtained through exposure of pulmonary cells at the air-liquid interface (ALI) during a complementary work (PhD project WOODTOX), will be performed.

Your mission will focus on the following priorities:

-        Operate the oxidation flow reactor (PAM-OFR) and the state of art of on-line instrumentation (SMPS, CPMA, AAC, ACSM/AMS, CI-ToF-MS + EESI and PTR-MS + CHARON) to perform the aging experiments and measure the chemical and physical properties of the gaseous and particulate phases together with related QA/QC procedures.

-        Independently operate these instruments, and other instruments (e.g., gas analyzers) in the laboratory and on the INERIS biomass burning facility.

-        Validate and analyze the data by these instruments and interpret the results obtained.

-        Link physicochemical characterization with toxicological responses.

-        Present results at scientific meetings and during international scientific conferences. Valorize the results through research project reports and publish them in peer-reviewed literature.

PhD in chemistry, physics, atmospheric sciences (aerosol/atmospheric chemistry/physics), environmental engineering, or a closely related field with experience in experimental sciences and data analysis including:

·       Operating instrumentation such as PTR-MS/CI-ToF-MS and/or ACSM/AMS.

·       Performing smog chamber or OFR experiments.

·       Troubleshooting and resolving problems with instrumentation.

·       Coding and analyzing complex data sets using Igor Pro.

In addition, you demonstrate the following abilities:

·       Strong experimental and lab/field work interest.

·       Autonomy.

·       Scientific rigor.

·       Adaptability.

·       Teamwork.

·       Synthesis and writing abilities.

·       Dynamism, and stress tolerance.

·       Very good written and oral English.