The Laboratory of Ocean Physics and Satellite remote sensing (LOPS) is a Joint Research Unit placed under the supervision of the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), the French Research Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer), the Research Institute for Development (IRD) and the University of Brest (UBO). It is also a laboratory of the European University Institute of the Sea (IUEM). As a research unit, LOPS develops and participates in research programs in oceanography which contribute to the development of knowledge on ocean dynamics at different time and space scales and which study the relationships of the ocean with other compartments of the Earth system such as the atmosphere, sea ice and living organisms.

The polar regions, in particular the Arctic basin, are the regions of the globe where climate change is the most rapid and strong. If the melting of the sea ice is the most striking expression of these changes, it is also accompanied by major transformations of all the components of the Arctic system: atmospheric warming is twice as fast there as at the equator, precipitation and freshwater inflows by rivers increase very sharply, the decrease in ice cover reveals new ice-free areas where the stratification of the water column, sea states or even exchanges between the continental shelves and the deep ocean are very strongly modified. All these local and regional changes in ocean dynamics and sea ice at high latitudes are likely to have important consequences for global ocean circulation and climate. Despite the climatic and geopolitical issues at stake in this region, observations are still few in number, numerical simulations of the Arctic basin diverge very strongly, and the dynamics of the ocean and sea ice are still poorly understood.

Within the scientific team "Ocean and Climate" of the Joint Unit LOPS, placed under the authority of the head of the Ifremer laboratory "Off-shore Ocean and Interactions of Ocean Scales", the recruited person will carry out an original research project in physical oceanography, in order to better understand the physical processes important for the ocean dynamics of the polar regions and the interactions between the sea ice and the ocean.