PhD Opportunities in Astronomy in France

This PhD project focuses on ultrafast electronic rearrangement and relaxation in biomolecules after photoabsorption. The student will investigate how several competing pathways, including very fast femtosecond charge-transfer and local electronic relaxation processes, unfold in complex molecular systems. The research uses a novel strategy based on Auger electrons emitted from a metallic site embedded in a porphyrin derivative. This local probe is used to follow the photoinduced electronic reorga...

This doctoral project is part of the ANR PALWOOD programme (2026–2030), which investigates the evolution of wood during the Paleozoic, from the first appearance of wood in the early Devonian to the end-Permian crisis. The project brings together researchers from multiple French research units, including AMAP (Montpellier), CR2P (Paris) and EEP (Lille), with international collaborators. The thesis focuses on the anatomical disparity of homoxylous woods , i.e. woods without vessels. The doctoral r...

Funded PhD opportunity in polymer chemistry and neutron scattering The Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France, is offering a three-year full-time PhD contract through the LSS Group, SANS Team, as part of the NEXTSTEP Project. The research focuses on polymerization-induced self-assembly, polymer nanostructures, and time-resolved small-angle neutron scattering. The project is suited to candidates with a Master’s degree in chemistry or a related discipline, particularly those with experience or...

PhD thesis opportunity at the Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL) for a project on polymerization induced self-assembly studied by neutron scattering . This is a research-oriented doctoral position at a major international neutron research facility, ideal for candidates interested in soft matter, polymer systems, and advanced structural characterization. The project combines polymer chemistry with scattering-based analysis to investigate how polymerization drives self-assembly and the resulting nanosca...

TERRA-MED is offering 33 fully funded PhD positions focused on interdisciplinary research into Mediterranean resilience to climate change. The doctoral projects cover water, land, environmental science, agriculture, energy, biotechnology, and digital technologies. Research will be conducted through universities across Occitanie in France, Catalonia in Spain, and the Balearic Islands in Spain. The programme is part of the Euroregion Pyrenees Mediterranean and is supported through the Marie Skłodo...

PhD position in Subseasonal Prediction of Atmospheric Rivers at Toulouse INP, France. This 36-month doctoral project will develop a subseasonal forecasting framework for atmospheric rivers in Europe and South America. The research will address two high-impact, understudied regions at this forecast lead time and aims to improve probabilistic forecast reliability. The project will investigate temporal aggregation to capture atmospheric-river variability, climate teleconnections and mid-latitude su...

Fully funded PhD opportunity in Toulouse, France, under the MSCA COFUND BEST programme. The project focuses on Sahara dust in the Pyrenees, using peat records and current monitoring services to reconstruct Saharan dust input over Spain and France. The research combines peat archives, atmospheric collectors, trace-metal geochemistry, and isotope geochemistry, making it a strong fit for students interested in Environmental Science, Earth Science, Geology, and Chemistry. The PhD will be hosted in T...

19 fully funded PhD positions are open in the BEST Doctoral Programme (Between Earth and Sky) at the University of Toulouse , France. This is an MSCA COFUND doctoral programme with a September 2027 start date. The call covers a range of research topics in Earth Science and related areas, with available subjects for 2027/2028 listed on the programme page. A key feature of the programme is that each PhD student will be supervised by a thesis supervisor based in Toulouse and must also have mandator...

PhD opportunity at Université de Toulouse within the doctoral school SDU2E - Sciences de l'Univers, de l'Environnement et de l'Espace and the research unit CESBIO - Centre d'Etudes Spatiales de la BIOsphère . The thesis topic is characterizing the drivers of spatial soil moisture heterogeneity and developing a representativeness index for European instrumented sites using a multi-sensor approach . The project is linked to climate change, soil moisture monitoring, calibration/validation of satell...