Seeing in the Dark: Dynamics in opaque porous materials
To enhance the healing of degraded soils, it is of prime importance to understand how
microorganisms navigate through such environments before settling in. Since soils are opaque,
internal dynamics can only be probed experimentally with X-ray beams. Yet, an image analysis tool to
quantify particle dynamics in these highly heterogeneous media is still lacking.
The goal of this Ph.D. project is to unravel the transport mechanisms of particles at micrometric scales in soils by
establishing new analysis tools and conducting experiments in model and real soils. The first step will be developing an image analysis toolbox to extract dynamical variables from correlations of X-ray
images obtained in heterogeneous opaque materials using multiscale theoretical tools. We will then
use the analysis tool to measure the internal dynamics of particles, including active particles, in
porous opaque media with increasing complexity. Harvesting these detailed experimental results, we
will thus be able to isolate dominating navigation mechanisms in the global context of soil
colonization by microorganisms.
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Candidate profile : We are looking for a highly motivated candidated with a masters degree in Physics or Physical chemistry, motivated by experimentation and some theory to analyze data. Previous experience in research is an asset.
How to apply: To apply please send a CV, a short motivation letter, a document with your master’s grades, and 1 or 2 reference persons (ideally a previous internship supervisor) that we may contact.
PhD dates: Oct. 2023 – Oct 2026. This PhD project will take place in 2 labs: predominantly in PHENIX (Sorbonne University, Paris) for data analysis and theory development and IC2MP (Poitiers) for experimental synthesis of soil samples.
Contact : sophie.marbach@sorbonne-universite.fr (PHENIX, Main Advisor, for applications)
Also check out [
sophie.marbach.fr] for more info