Post-doctoral researcher "New Auger methodologies for the quantitative analysis of interfacial segregation in low-alloy steels" - Fixed-term contract 24 months

Joining Mines Saint-Étienne means engaging with an institution where science and innovation build a more sustainable future. An institution of excellence where everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential and contribute to meeting tomorrow's challenges.

Ranked among the best engineering schools in France and recognized worldwide, our school, a member of Institut Mines-Télécom, trains the talents of tomorrow while actively contributing to addressing major industrial, digital, and environmental challenges. With us, you will join a community of 500 employees, 2500 students, and participate in an ambitious project: combining academic excellence, cutting-edge research, and positive societal impact.

Institut Mines-Télécom federates major French schools around major industrial, digital, energy, and ecological challenges. With its 8 public Grandes Écoles and 2 affiliated schools, it is the leading public institute dedicated to engineers and managers. Together, we imagine and build a sustainable future by training the actors who will shape tomorrow's transitions.

Welcome to the world of future materials!

At the Materials and Structures Science (SMS) center, attached to the Georges Friedel Laboratory (joint research unit CNRS), we dissect matter to better control it. Metallic alloys, ceramics, composites… here, we explore the link between processes, microstructures, and material properties.

Using advanced characterization tools and multi-scale models, our teacher-researchers invent the concept of “Material by design”: designing materials from the research workshop for tailor-made performance.

🧠 Do you enjoy fundamental science that changes reality? This is where it happens.

🎯 Job Description - What We Expect From You

The Georges Friedel Laboratory (LGF) is a joint research unit of CNRS (UMR 5307). Located at Mines Saint-Étienne school and supported by two supervisory bodies (Mines Saint-Étienne and CNRS), the laboratory brings together all of Mines Saint-Étienne's research potential in the fields of materials, mechanics, and processes.

The SMS center - Materials and Structures Science - is one of the five teaching and research centers of Mines Saint-Etienne. Within the LGF, it conducts research in materials science, mechanics, and advanced manufacturing processes for transport and energy production, with the goal of increasing material durability.

This postdoctoral position is part of the “SIRA” chair, a four-year partnership between Mines Saint-Etienne and the companies Framatome and EDF, co-financed by the National Research Agency, focusing on the aging of low-alloy steels (16MND5) used in primary circuit components of pressurized water nuclear reactors.

This postdoctoral position is organized around four areas of work.

The first area of work will involve the use of hydrogen to promote intergranular fracture, a necessary prerequisite for fracture Auger spectrometry. This will allow access to low segregation levels, insufficient to cause “intrinsic” intergranular brittleness. Hydrogen is known to exacerbate intergranular embrittlement in certain cases. The aim here will be to explore the conditions under which hydrogen-assisted intergranular fracture can be obtained for vessel steel. The effect of hydrogen concentration (introduced by cathodic charging, for example) and mechanical loading rate can be studied in particular. The chair will benefit from the laboratory's expertise in hydrogen embrittlement for this.

The second area of work concerns the development of a quantitative model for Auger analysis of intergranular segregation of alloying elements. This will be an approach similar to that already developed for phosphorus and sulfur, with the additional difficulty of subtracting the contribution from the bulk, which is non-negligible here.

The third and fourth areas of this postdoctoral position will rely on the Auger spectrometer installed in December 2025. This latest generation equipment offers a lateral resolution of less than 10 nm. This opens up new analytical perspectives that we wish to explore within the framework of the chair, particularly concerning the analysis of carbon and carbides, which constitutes the third area of work of this postdoctoral position. Auger analysis of the surface of nanometric carbides becomes possible with the new instrument and allows access to the chemical composition of carbide-matrix interfaces. Furthermore, Auger analysis of intergranular facets can be performed outside of carbides and will allow quantification of segregated carbon at the grain boundary.

Finally, the last area of work will consist of developing a method for quantifying intergranular segregation without fracture. This will involve working on a polished cross-section of the material to be studied and performing local analyses, such as concentration profiles across grain boundaries.

Given the excellent lateral resolution, segregation can be detected using this method. A data processing method will need to be developed to access intergranular solute concentrations. Such a method has already been developed for analyses performed by nanoSIMS and could be transposed to Auger spectrometry. It would eliminate the need to obtain intergranular fracture (which is particularly limiting in Auger spectrometry) while maintaining a very simple sample preparation (polished cross-section) and potentially high productivity (large number of grain boundaries analyzable in a given sample).

🔍 What We Are Looking For

You are:

· Holder of a doctorate in Materials Science, Physics, or Chemistry

You possess the following skills, knowledge, and experience:

· Good knowledge of materials science

· Experience in transmission electron microscopy

You identify with the following capabilities and aptitudes:

· Ability to work in a team

· Ability to communicate with academic and industrial stakeholders

📩 Apply Now!

Application deadline: 01/11/2026

🔗 Application files (CV, cover letter, letter of recommendation) must be submitted on the RECRUITEE platform:

https://institutminestelecom.recruitee.com/o/post-doctorante-nouvelles-methodologies-auger-pour-lanalyse-quantitative-de-la-segregation-interfaciale-dans-les-aciers-faiblement-allies-cdd-24-mois

Start date planned: January 1, 2027

Candidates selected after review of their application file will be interviewed via videoconference and, if applicable, invited for an in-person interview at Mines Saint-Étienne.

As part of its Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion policy, Mines Saint Etienne is an employer committed to fair treatment of all applications.

 ℹ️ Additional Information

• Fixed-term public contract for a duration of 24 months

• Salary will be determined based on the candidate's profile, according to the rules defined by the management framework of Institut Mines Télécom

• Full-time
• Managerial profile

• Position based in Saint-Étienne at the École des Mines. Travel within the urban area of Saint-Étienne will be required to work on platforms.

The position is open to all, with accommodations available upon request for candidates with disabilities.

Position open to civil servants and/or contract employees. Any application may be subject to an administrative investigation.

 📞 Contacts

·  Regarding the position content:

Frédéric CHRISTIEN
Email:

Tel: +33 (0)6 43 24 63 90

· Regarding administrative/HR aspects:
Amélie HUCHET – HR Manager
Email:
Tel: +33 (0)4 77 42 93 05

🌍 Why Join Mines Saint-Étienne?

We support each of our employees on the path to excellence, with the conviction that together, we can have a lasting and significant impact on our world.

Joining Mines Saint-Étienne offers the opportunity to find:

·  A stimulating environment: cutting-edge experimental resources, a strong international network (T.I.M.E., EULIST) and human-sized campuses with an urban environment

· Real impact: contract research projects amounting to €11 million/year, mainly with industrial partners, a science communication center, La Rotonde, which has been committed to science outreach for 25 years with over 50,000 visitors/year

·  Incomparable quality of life: between 46 and 49 days of leave and RTT, partial remote work, 75% coverage of public transport costs, financial support for carpooling and cycling, and a social barometer where 83% of employees praise the quality of work-life balance

Let's build a more sustainable future through science, engineering, and meaningful projects.

Useful links:

School:

https://www.mines-stetienne.fr/

IMT:

https://www.imt.fr/

Protection of your

https://www.mines-stetienne.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Informations-des-candidats-sur-les-traitements-de-donn%C3%A9es-personnelles.pdf

etienne.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Informations-des-candidats-sur-les-traitements-de-donn%C3%A9es-personnelles.pdf

Find Jobs in France on Arbeitnow