Post-doctoral researcher position – G-REACHE (Greening for Resilient, Equitable, and Adaptable Communities against Heat Exposure)

About this position

EHESP – School of Public Health

Post-doctoral researcher position – G-REACHE

Department of sciences en santé environnementale (DEESSE)

CDD of 24 months - Position based in Rennes (France)

Category A

Institution

EHESP-School of Public Health is a scientific, cultural and professional public institution. EHESP is a member of the network of public service schools (RESP), France Universities and the conference of Grandes écoles (CGE).

EHESP is also a component institution of the University of Rennes (Public Experimental Institution, “EPE”).

As a platform for teaching and research in public health, EHESP is structured in departments (human and social sciences / management institute / quantitative methods in public health / environmental health sciences) integrated into an interdisciplinary project including certified research centers. EHESP offers training courses for senior managers for civil service, national master’s degree, specialized master’s degrees, doctoral program and a very rich offer of lifelong learning.

EHESP welcomes 1,300 students or doctoral students and 7,000 trainees in professional development from 50 different nationalities and invites more than 1,000 lecturers per year.

Website:

www.ehesp.fr —

Twitter feed: @ehesp

Departement

This position is based within the sciences en santé environnementale (

DEESSE

)

department and affiliated with the CITES team (

Cités - Climat, inégalités, interventions, territoires, écosystème et santé

) at the Institut de recherche en santé, environnement et travail (

Irset

).

The department's mission is to address the health risks, including the unequal burdens of morbidity and mortality, associated with living environments. The department is responsible for providing high-level training that meets the needs of professionals and practitioners working in environmental health and safety systems at both the national and international levels. The department also contributes, through research and expert assessment, to understanding the risks associated with environmental factors, including their sources, measurement, distribution across the population, and prevention, with the aim of promoting healthy living environments and territories.

It has 19 lecturers, professors, and researchers representing the following scientific disciplines: Toxicology, exposure science, environmental chemistry, environmental epidemiology, public health, environmental sciences, geography, urban planning, environmental microbiology, and hydrology.

Research Field

Environmental & climate change epidemiology

Activities

The postdoctoral researcher will contribute to the G-REACHE (Greening for Resilient, Equitable, and Adaptable Communities against Heat Exposure) project, which investigates the health impacts of extreme heat across France and identifies locally appropriate greening interventions to reduce heat-related health risks. The project has three main objectives: (1) to examine the relationship between extreme heat events (EHEs) and hospitalizations across France at the commune and IRIS levels over the period 2010–2023; (2) to identify regionally appropriate greenness indicators that reflect local ecological contexts and are relevant to policy and practice; and (3) to simulate the potential impacts of identified greening interventions on heat-related hospitalizations.

The postdoctoral researcher will contribute to these objectives through a mixed-methods approach combining advanced epidemiological methods and causal inference, spatial analysis and remote sensing applications, and qualitative research, including stakeholder interviews using the Delphi method. An environmental justice perspective will be integrated to examine disparities in heat-related health impacts and assess the potential for greening interventions to promote more equitable health outcomes. The researcher will work closely with academic collaborators and stakeholders in policy and practice to translate scientific findings into actionable, locally tailored recommendations.

The project aims to develop an open-access framework that can be applied across European settings to support evidence-based responses to climate-related health risks. The position will offer opportunities to lead and contribute to scientific publications, present findings at conferences, and participate in science communication and public engagement activities, including initiatives such as Pint of Science.