Université de Toulon | Junior Professorship in non-linear dynamics and research on intelligent UAV ensembles

General Info

• Faculty and department: Faculty of science and technology, Mathematics Department
• Laboratory: Centre de Physique Théorique (CPT)
• Workplace: Toulon University – La Garde campus
• Starting date: 1st October 2025
• Contract duration: 4 years
• Gross monthly salary: Beetween 3726 et 4345 euros
• Teaching profile: The professor will work within the Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of Toulon, teaching pure and applied mathematics from bachelor’s to master’s degrees. In particular, he/she will be able to propose new courses for the next habilitation, previously tested either as optional courses or in the international universities he/she will have visited in order to set up international agreements. He/she will be keen to develop teaching at Master’s level related to dynamical systems, rigorous statistical physics and inverse problems or spectral theory, which could resonate with his/her research project and help attract students for internships or PhDs. He/she could also be a driving force behind the organization of thematic schools (such as summer schools).
• Research profile: The scientific project revolves around the theme of controlling systems of many independent units, i.e. a school of underwater drones. These systems can be seen as active particles, breaking the action-reaction principle of mechanics and profoundly changing the nature of statistical physics approaches. How can such a school of drones be “piloted”, formed, moved and dissolved to carry out individual or collective tasks? How can we generate “collective intelligence” to optimize its movement to a given location? How can communication between units be optimized, and what is the optimal shape of the school of drones to harness hydrodynamic “forces”? What happens if the flow becomes turbulent? The project aims to formalize and find answers to these questions, using the tools of statistical physics, non-linear physics and control theory.

Additional activities

• The development of the project will require the recruited person to invest in doctoral and post-doctoral supervision and supervision of Master’s courses in mathematics and applications.
• It is also recommended that, during the course of this Chair, applications for project funding will be submitted (ANR, Région, etc.).
• The person recruited is expected to play an active role in the UFR’s internationalisation strategy for its training courses.
• The person recruited will also be involved in scientific dissemination, at several levels, both to the general public and to specialists.
• As the theme of this Chair is one of the university’s strategic priorities, the person recruited will be required to take account of the local context: activities of the university’s other laboratories in the maritime field, meetings with local socio-economic players and, where appropriate, integration into the University of Toulon’s institutes that have been set up or are in the process of being set up and whose activities will be related to the theme of this Chair.

Other info

• The chair will run for four years.
• It benefits from specific funding (in addition to the laboratory’s recurrent resources): 2 years of postdoc, 1 thesis (3 years), and €40k of operating costs for the duration of the chair.
• The volume of annual teaching hours envisaged during the contract is as follows:
  • 1st year: 64 hours of supervised work equivalent (HeTD)
  • 2nd year: 64 HeTD
  • 3rd year: 96 HeTD
  • 4th year: 128 HeTD

Skills required

• Willingness to get involved in teaching teams and to monitor students to help them prepare for their professional future.
• Ability to lead collective projects at the level of the laboratory, the Science and Technology Department and/or the institution, and in particular to develop international partnerships at both teaching and research level and in setting up and managing contracts.
• Teaching experience in the required speciality (mathematics)
• As part of the school’s strategy, international experience and the ability to teach in English would be highly appreciated.
• Ability to communicate and work with theoretical physicists, willingness to collaborate with applied scientists and the private industrial sector
• Ability and willingness to work on multidisciplinary projects

Contact

Laurent Raymond, Deputy Director (AMU) of the Centre for Theoretical Physics, University Professor: laurent.raymond@univ-amu.fr, +33 (0)670 540 526

Source and application: https://www.cpt.univ-mrs.fr/~barrat/CPJ_UTLN_en.html