Postdoctoral position in high-resolution infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy

Job description

The laboratory “Spectroscopy, Quantum Chemistry and Atmospheric Remote Sensing laboratory” (SQUARES; https://squares.ulb.be ) at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) is looking for a highly motivated and skilled Postdoctoral Researcher to join his team. The research will be in the field of high-resolution infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy.

Description of the research profile

Small organic molecules are ubiquitous in the atmospheres of planetary bodies of the solar system and thought to exist in detectable amounts in the atmospheres of exoplanets. Their abundances can be measured from optical instruments. The detection and quantification of atmospheric species is however bound to the availability of reference spectroscopic data from the laboratory, and these are surprisingly still lacking or incomplete for many organic species. Bridging the complementary expertise available in experimental spectroscopy and atmospheric remote sensing, ULB-SQUARES aims in particular at helping to fill this gap to strengthen Earth observation applications and the exploration of outer atmospheres, in the solar system and beyond. Specifically, the infrared absorption cross sections or line parameters of a series of small organic molecules, selected for their relevance in planetary atmospheres, will be measured in the laboratory. In parallel, their search in the measurement records from several infrared space missions will be conducted and their distributions will be characterized whenever possible. The data will be integrated in public databases and shared with the remote-sensing community to prepare future monitoring or exploration missions.

Responsibilities

At ULB, you will contribute to the measurement of infrared absorption cross sections or line parameters for species selected for their relevance in planetary atmospheres. You will carry out these measurements using a high-resolution Bruker IFS 120 upgraded to 125 HR Fourier transform (FT) spectrometer. You will be in charge of setting up experiments, the recording of FT spectra and their analysis to derive the sought spectroscopic information. You will supervise the work of a PhD student and interact with the community of infrared remote sensing of the Earth and other planets.