法国国家科研中心&蒙彼利埃大学荒漠生态学 研究博士后职位

Dryland vegetation models and indicators of desertification

The position
We are seeking a post-doctoral scientist with interest in ecosystem modeling to work on dryland vegetation models with the objective to develop and test indicators of desertification. The starting date of the position is flexible but should preferably be between September and December 2012.
This position will be part of the European project CASCADE , “CAtastrophic Shifts in drylands: how CAn we prevent ecosystem DEgradation?” (FP7). CASCADE will combine historical data analysis from six Mediterranean study sites, field and laboratory experiments, field surveys, as well as physical and socio-economic modeling to 1) improve our understanding of the biogeochemical mechanisms underlying catastrophic shifts in drylands, and 2) develop management schemes for sustainable resource use and conservation of drylands.

The applicant profile
Applicants should possess a Ph.D. in the areas of ecology, physics or applied mathematics. We are looking for a highly motivated early-career scientist with strong modeling and computational skills as well as a desire to work closely with field ecologists.
Within the Evolutionary Community Ecology group, the successful candidate will work with Sonia Kéfi and Nicolas Mouquet. He/she will also interact closely with other members of the international CASCADE team.

The host team
Our group combines theoretical and experimental approaches to understand the dynamics of species diversity over both short (ecological) and long (evolutionary) time scales. Our approaches are multidisciplinary, mixing community and ecosystem ecology, biogeography, evolution, microbiology, conservation biology and modeling of complex systems. We use different techniques and biological material: (1) mathematical modeling, (2) experimental evolution, (3) data analyses of large-scale species distribution datasets and (4) field studies of tropical fishes and marine bacteria. Our team hosts seven tenured researchers (Julie Deter, Vincent Devictor, Michael Hochberg, Oliver Kaltz, Sonia Kéfi, Serge Morand, and Nicolas Mouquet), one tenured technician, several post-docs, in addition to Ph.D. and master students. Additional information is available at:
http://www.eec.univ-montp2.fr/people

The department
The Institute of Evolutionary Sciences of Montpellier (ISEM ) is one of the leading French institutes in the field of biodiversity. It hosts 63 tenured researchers (plus 92 technicians, engineers, post-docs and Ph.D. students) and encompasses every aspect of evolutionary biology: paleontology, systematics, phylogeny, population genetics, ecology and conservation biology. ISEM belongs to the University Montpellier 2 and is actively involved in teaching.

Salary
The net salary will be at least 1800 Euros per month (depending on the candidate’s experience), including social security and health insurance. This is a full-time, fixed-term appointment for 12 months, renewable for an additional 12 months.

Application
Applicants should send a short cover letter, a CV including publications, and contact details of three references to Sonia Kéfi: sonia.kefi at univ-montp2.fr. We request that you send your application documents as a single PDF file. This position will remain open until filled, but applicants are encouraged to apply before July 31, 2012.