This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe under grant agreement No. 101226422

This project has received funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI)

Implementation of the project was supported by the “Fonds Régionaux d’Aide aux Porteurs de Projets Européens” and “Montage de Réseaux Scientifiques Européens ou Internationaux”

1. Position Overview

PhD Position Title: Microfabric analysis of granites, mica shists and volcanic reservoir rocks as function of alteration and deformation.

Doctoral Candidate (DC) Number: 14

Work Package Number: 5

Host Institution (full legal name): Institut Polytechnique UniLaSalle, Beauvais Campus

Department / Research Group: DIRED department / GeNumEr research team

Country: France

Employment Contract signature deadline: July 31st 2026

Research activities Start Date (expected): September 1st 2026

Duration: 36 months (September 2026 – September 2029)

Working Hours: 39 hours per week

1. MiningBrines Project Description

MiningBrines (Multidisciplinary Integration and Networking for INcreased sustainability and multi-resources valorization of Geothermal Brines) offers an innovative doctoral training program to address Europe's strategic need for sustainable access to critical raw materials (CRM), energy gases (EG) and renewable energies.

19 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) will receive interdisciplinary training in geosciences (Work Packages 2 and 3), biogeochemistry (Work Package 4), artificial intelligence (AI) (Work Package 5), and socio-economic analysis (Work Package 6), equipping them with advanced skills in reservoir modeling, machine learning, advanced oxidation processes (AOP), and microbial enhanced recovery. DCs will also develop intuitive fluid chemistry modeling workflows and innovative multi-criteria intelligent decision support tools, preparing them to drive innovation in geothermal brine mining while collaborating with academic and industrial partners on practical solutions.

MiningBrines introduces novel techniques to maximize geothermal multi-resource recovery while minimizing environmental impact. Key innovations include microbial-driven CRM recovery, customized AOP workflows, scalable AI models, and decision support tools that consider technological, economic, and societal aspects. These advances aim to reduce the environmental footprint of resource extraction and align with the sustainability goals of the EU Green Deal.

MiningBrines supports the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act by combining CRM and EG recovery with renewable energy production and circular economy principles, reducing Europe's import dependency and strengthening resilience. In addition, MiningBrines emphasizes collaborative education to meet the growing demand for skilled professionals capable of transforming geothermal multi-resources into a key driver of Europe's green transition.

The impact of MiningBrines goes beyond scientific advances, fostering a skilled workforce for academic and industrial sectors, while establishing Europe as a global leader in sustainable resource management.

MiningBrines promotes public awareness of the multiple benefits of geothermal energy, setting a standard for green industrial practices and long-term strategic autonomy.

1. DC14 Research Project Description

Geothermal reservoirs hosted in crystalline and volcanic rocks are promising targets for the sustainable extraction of heat, energy gases, and critical raw materials from geothermal brines. However, the efficiency and long-term stability of such systems strongly depend on the microstructural evolution of reservoir rocks as a function of deformation, fluid–rock interaction, and chemical alteration.

Objectives

The objective of this PhD project is to investigate how deformation, fluid–rock interaction, and chemical alteration control the microstructural evolution of crystalline and volcanic geothermal reservoir rocks, and how these processes influence petrophysical properties that govern geothermal reservoir performance. Focusing on granites, mica schists, and volcanic rocks representative of European geothermal systems, the project aims to establish robust links between microfabric development, mineralogical transformations, and the physical properties controlling fluid flow and reactivity. By integrating high-resolution microstructural observations with inverse and multiscale approaches, the doctoral research will contribute to the upscaling of sample-scale properties towards reservoir-scale numerical models within Work Package 5 of the MiningBrines Doctoral Network.

Main Scientific Questions

This project addresses fundamental questions related to the coupled evolution of deformation and alteration in geothermal reservoirs. It seeks to understand how brittle and ductile deformation mechanisms interact with hydrothermal alteration processes under geothermal conditions, and how these interactions modify fracture networks, pore structures, and reactive surface areas. A central question concerns the extent to which microstructural heterogeneity generated by deformation and alteration controls fluid pathways and reservoir-scale permeability. The project further investigates how microstructural and mineralogical observations can be translated into effective petrophysical parameters and whether incorporating such information can significantly improve the predictive capability and robustness of geothermal reservoir models used for energy production and multi-resource exploitation.

Expected Results

The expected outcomes of this PhD project include high-resolution microstructural and mineralogical datasets documenting deformation- and alteration-related features in representative geothermal reservoir rocks, obtained using advanced techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction, and synchrotron-based imaging and diffraction methods. The project will establish quantitative relationships between microfabric evolution, alteration state, and key petrophysical properties, providing a mechanistic basis for interpreting reservoir heterogeneity. In addition, inverse and multiscale methodologies will be developed to transfer microstructural information into effective parameters suitable for reservoir-scale numerical modelling. These results will directly contribute to the multiscale upscaling workflows developed in Work Package 5 and support improved predictive models of geothermal reservoir behavior, ultimately contributing to the development of sustainable strategies for geothermal energy and multi-resource exploitation in Europe.

1. Supervisory Team

Main Supervisor (host institution): Prof. Trullenque Ghislain (ULS, FR)

Co-supervisor(s): Dr. Giovanni Macedonio (INGV, IT), Dr. Nikolaos Prasianakis (PSI, CH), Dr. Ulrich Lienert (DESY, DE) and Prof. Sébastien Potel (ULS, FR)

1. Planned Secondments (institution, country, duration)

Secondment one: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Germany, September 2027 – November 2027

Secondment two: Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Italy, May 2028 – August 2028

Secondment three: Paul Scherrer Institut, Switzerland, January 2029 – April 2029

1. Training and Network Environment

The successful candidate will be part of the MiningBrines Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network, a European training program bringing together universities, research institutes, and industry partners.

Benefits :

Doctoral candidates will benefit from:

• Joint network-wide training schools and workshops

• International research secondments

• Access to state-of-the-art facilities

• An interdisciplinary and international research environment

In addition to remuneration, we also offer:

• 6 weeks of paid vacation

• RTT: approximately 22 days per year

• 20 to 34 days of teleworking per year

• Ambitious staff training policy

• Company restaurant with partial employer contribution (45%)

• Company savings plan

• Supplementary pension

• Health insurance covered 100% by the employer

• Social initiatives organized by the CSE

• Sports facilities available (2 tennis courts, 1 squash court, 1 gym, 1 fitness room, 10-hectare park with fitness trail)

• Free access to the innovation center (Agrilab)

• Employee parking