Postdoc: Mercury Plasma Environment with PWI/SORBET on BepiColombo
Location: Observatoire de Paris (LIRA), Meudon, France
Contract: Fixed-term researcher contract, 24 months, full time
Start: 1 March 2027
Salary: €3,132 to €4,808 gross/month depending on experience
Deadline: 5 November 2026
A two-year postdoc funded by the DIM-Origines programme on the first analysis of the SORBET radio instrument, part of the PWI suite aboard the Mio (Mercury Magnetosphere Orbiter) spacecraft of the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission. Nominal science observations start in April 2027.
Your role
- Exploit the first in situ measurements of Mercury's plasma environment, especially electron measurements
- Map the dynamics of Mercury's magnetosphere and its interaction with the solar wind
- Study electron transport and acceleration, solar wind–magnetosphere coupling, and the origin and dynamics of cold and suprathermal electrons
- Publish in peer-reviewed journals and deliver science data to the BepiColombo community
Profile
- PhD in space plasma physics or a related field (completed before starting, early 2027)
Environment
You will join the Heliosphere and Plasma in Astrophysics team at LIRA, hosted by the Observatoire de Paris, with direct access to PWI/SORBET data, supervised by Karine Issautier. Benefits include up to 2 days/week remote work, employer health insurance and 75% public transport coverage.
