Team circles 2023

Photo credits: Julie Noury Soyer

 

You don't have yet the qualifications to start a PhD ? Our MSc may interest you ! 

Post Doc opportunities

We welcome Post Doc researchers who are interested in working on RING's research topics and we support funding applications to Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Fond National Suisse, and others.

Find out more about RING's technologies and publications.

Contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to apply or for more information.

 

PhD opportunities

PhD applications for 2024 are now open. 

Candidate profile

The ideal candidate is passionate about science, has a solid background in applied mathematics, statistics and physics, and has strong scientific writing skills. An experience in computer programming is required. A background or a proven interest in geoscience is appreciated. Candidates should hold a MSc in (quantitative) Earth Sciences, Geophysics or Physics, Computer Science, Geostatistics, Porous Media, Applied Mathematics, or related fields. A strong command of English language is required. French language is preferable, but not necessary.

How to apply

Application files must be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and must include:

  • A cover letter, 
  • A CV, including contact information for two or more referees
  • A research outcome (Master’s thesis or paper) written by the candidate
  • An official transcript of grades.

Project #1: Seismic wave propagation in multi-scale fractured media

Tectonic processes and the industrial exploitation of the subsurface induce brittle deformations in the earth crust, leading to fractures at all scales. These fractures are organized in networks which are basically characterized by their density, connectivity, and distribution of aperture, length and orientation. Determining these parameters are essential for predicting the hydrogeological behavior of reservoirs or understanding the fatigue of soils and engineering structures. However, direct measurements of fracture parameters are rarely available. Apart from outcrops, cores and borehole images, fractured rocks are seen in an effective way through mechanical properties derived from mechanical tests or seismic wave data. The aim of the PhD project is to improve our understanding of the interaction between seismic waves and fractures.

Geological observations have evidenced that a power law is appropriate to describe the density of a fracture set as a function of fracture size (e.g., Bonnet et al., 2001). Nevertheless, for either theoretical or computational reasons, studies on seismic wave propagation in fractured media have been restricted to a short range of sizes so far. To overcome this limitation, the present project will build on recent progresses in non-periodic homogenization (e.g., Capdeville et al, 2010; Guillot et al, 2010; Cupillard & Capdeville, 2018; Capdeville et al, 2020) to compute effective properties of fractures following realistic power law distributions. The numerical methodology will be tested and validated against laboratory experiments on core samples.


Working environment: The successful candidate will work in the RING Team, a pluridisciplinary and diverse
group of 12-15 researchers and graduate students working at the interface of geoscience, computer science
and applied mathematics. The team is part of Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Géologie in the GeoRessources
laboratory, a research lab of Université de Lorraine and CNRS. The research team is driven by passion for
developing computer-based methods and theories for geological and geophysical modeling, serving the
geoscience community to address scientific and natural resource management challenges.

Working environment: The successful candidate will work in the RING Team, a pluridisciplinary and diverse group of 12-15 researchers and graduate students working at the interface of geoscience, computer science and applied mathematics. The team is part of Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Géologie in the GeoRessources laboratory, a research lab of Université de Lorraine and CNRS. The research team is driven by passion for developing computer based methods and theories for geological and geophysical modeling, serving the geoscience community to address scientific and natural resource management challenges.

Working environment: The successful candidate will work in the RING Team, a pluridisciplinary and diverse
group of 12-15 researchers and graduate students working at the interface of geoscience, computer science
and applied mathematics. The team is part of Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Géologie in the GeoRessources
laboratory, a research lab of Université de Lorraine and CNRS. The research team is driven by passion for
developing computer-based methods and theories for geological and geophysical modeling, serving the
geoscience community to address scientific and natural resource management challenges.

Requirements: Candidates should hold a MSc in quantitative Earth Sciences, Geophysics or Physics, Computer Science, Geostatistics, Porous Media, Applied Mathematics, or related fields. They are passionate about science and have solid scientific writing skills. An experience in computer programming and a strong command of English language are required. French language is preferable, but not necessary.

Advisors: Paul Cupillard (GeoRessources, Université de Lorraine), Dragan Grgic (Georessources, Université de Lorraine)

Laboratory: GeoRessources (Nancy, France)

Location: Nancy (France), a UNESCO World Heritage city with a vibrant student life and a rich cultural agenda, only 90 minutes away from Paris, Luxembourg and Strasbourg

Location: Nancy (France), a UNESCO World Heritage city with a vibrant student life and a rich cultural
agenda, only 90 minutes away from Paris, Luxembourg and Strasbourg

Starting date: September 2024 or later

Deadline for applications: May 31, 2024

References:

Bonnet, E., O. Bour, N. E. Odling, P. Davy, I. Main, P. Cowie, and B. Berkowitz (2001). Scaling of fracture systems in geologic media, Rev. Geophys. 39, 347–383.

Capdeville, Y., L. Guillot, and J. Marigo (2010). 2-D non-periodic homogenization to upscale elastic media for P-SV waves. Geophys. J. Int. 182, 903–922.

Capdeville, Y., P. Cupillard, and S. Singh (2020). An introduction to the two-scale homogenization method for seismology, Adv. Geophys. 61, 217–306.

Cupillard, P. and Y. Capdeville (2018). Non-periodic homogenization of 3-D elastic media for the seismic wave equation. Geophys. J. Int. 213(2), 983–1001.

Guillot, L., Y. Capdeville, and J. Marigo (2010). 2-D non-periodic homogenization of the elastic wave equation: SH case. Geophys. J. Int. 182, 1438–1454.

 

Project #2: Assisted borehole interpretation and multi-well stratigraphic correlation for geothermal modeling

The RING team is seeking an outstanding PhD candidate to address research questions in integrative numerical geology. The full-time position is for a three-year term, expected to start in October 2023 (date is flexible depending on candidate’s availability). The PhD topic outlined below can be tailored to the interests and experience of the retained candidate.

The characterization of stratigraphic architecture from sparse borehole data is essential to understand the heterogeneity and nature of the rocks in sedimentary basins. Correlation uncertainties have been shown to impact the volume of sediments deposited through time (Edwards et al., 2018), the facies proportions in reservoir flow units (Lallier et al., 2016) and the hydrodynamic reservoir behavior, see Fig. 1 (Lallier et al., 2012). However, the impact of correlation uncertainties on the performance of geothermal reservoirs or on CO2 sequestration has not received much attention. Therefore, a first objective of this work is to quantify the impact of stratigraphic uncertainty on geothermal fluid circulation.

Stratigraphy Lallier PhD offer 2023

Figure 1: Two stratigraphic geometries and the associated reservoir behavior (Lallier et al., 2012)

 

To address this question, the PhD project will define new approaches to propagate and quantify uncertainties in well log interpretation, stratigraphic correlation, and layer interpolation. The research methodology will first address the two-dimensional case between two wells, before considering more challenging cases in three dimensions with multiple wells. Analog models will be considered to calibrate and test the methodology, before considering real stratigraphic data from the Paris Basin.

During the project, the successful candidate will build and advance knowledge in geological data analytics, geometric modeling, spatial statistics and geothermal modeling, opening to both academic and industrial professional pathways.

Working environment: The successful candidate will work in the RING Team, a pluridisciplinary and diverse group of 12-15 researchers and graduate students working at the interface of geoscience, computer science and applied mathematics. The team is part of Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Géologie in the GeoRessources laboratory, a research lab of Université de Lorraine and CNRS. The research team is driven by passion for developing computer based methods and theories for geological and geophysical modeling, serving the geoscience community to address scientific and natural resource management challenges.

Requirements: Candidates should hold a MSc in (quantitative) Earth Sciences, Geophysics or Physics, Computer Science, Geostatistics, Porous Media, Applied Mathematics, or related fields. An experience in computer programming (C++, python) and a strong command of English language is required. French language is preferable, but not necessary.

AdvisorsGuillaume Caumon (GeoRessources,Université de Lorraine), Cécile Robin (Université de Rennes).

Laboratory: GeoRessources (Nancy, France)

LocationNancy (France), a UNESCO World Heritage city with a vibrant student life and a rich cultural agenda, only 90 minutes away from Paris, Luxembourg and Strasbourg

Starting date: Oct. 2023 (date is flexible depending on candidate’s availability)

Deadline for applications: June 30, 2023

Context:

The PhD scholarship is sponsored by an international consortium of 11 companies and 102 research institutes. The successful candidates will work in the RING Team, a pluridisciplinary and diverse group of 12-15 researchers and graduate students working at the interface of geoscience, computer science and applied mathematics. The team is part of Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Géologie (http://ensg.univ-lorraine.fr/) in the GeoRessources laboratory (http://georessources.univ-lorraine.fr/), a research lab of Université de Lorraine and CNRS. The research team is driven by passion for developing computer-based methods and theories for geological modeling, serving the geoscience community to address scientific and natural resource management challenges.

Location: Nancy, France. Nancy is a UNESCO World Heritage city with a vibrant student life and a rich cultural agenda, only 90 minutes away from Paris, Luxembourg and Strasbourg.

References:

Edwards J, Lallier F, Caumon G & Carpentier C. (2018). Uncertainty management in stratigraphic well correlation and stratigraphic architectures: A training-based method. Computers & Geosciences 111:1‑17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2017.10.008

Lallier F, Caumon G, Borgomano J, Viseur S, Fournier F, Antoine C & Gentilhomme T. (2012). Relevance of the stochastic stratigraphic well correlation approach for the study of complex carbonate settings: application to the Malampaya buildup (Offshore Palawan, Philippines). Geological Society, London, Special Publications 370(1):265‑275. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP370.12

Lallier F, Caumon G, Borgomano J, Viseur S, Royer J-J & Antoine C. (2016). Uncertainty assessment in the stratigraphic well correlation of a carbonate ramp: Method and application to the Beausset Basin, SE France. Comptes Rendus Geoscience 348(7):499‑509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crte.2015.10.002