Rennes_France.DemogeneticsInvasivePopulations

Dear all,

Please find below a fully funded 3-years PhD position.
Feel free to share this opportunity with your students and
networks. Thanks.

We propose a fully funded 3-years PhD position in *Predictive
Demogenetics of the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of freshwater
and coastal populations* at DECOD Unit Research (Ecosystem dynamics and
sustainability: from source to sea) in Rennes, France, supervised by
Eric j. Petit et Solenn Stoeckel.

This thesis is 100% funded by INRAE: approximately  euro 27,600 gross
per year + ~5% coverage of incidental costs (teleworking package,
sustainable mobility, public transport subscription, family supplement,
mutual insurance). Starting in November 2025.Deadline for applicants:
May 31th, 2025.

Workplace: https://ouvaton.link/mdHjAg

If you are interested in:

· exploring scientific questions at the frontiers of ecology and
evolution, through modelling and analysis of tracked population
datasets, based on genotyping and abundance data acquired on invasive
species (including Northern Hemisphere water primroses, crayfishes in
France, freshwater and coastal algae, and Kerguelen Islands trout);

· acquiring or implementing mathematical, statistical, and programming
methods to produce methodological results, to understand
microevolutionary phenomena, to then apply advances on tracked
population datasets in partnership with natural area managers;

· working on a thesis involving international collaborators, in a
living laboratory located in a young and vibrant city, with a reasonable
cost of living and connected to Europe (TGV, airport); 

This thesis position may be for you.

In this case, please feel free to contact us if you have any
questions, or to express your interest in this position: Eric J. Petit
(eric.petit@inrae.fr) et Solenn Stoeckel (solenn.stoeckel@inrae.fr) If you
wish, you may come and visit our lab, meet us and talk with the doctoral
students and postdoctoral fellows to feel the workplace environment.

*Context*
Biological invasions are long monitored by scientists and natural area
managers. They provide an opportunity to understand the biological
processes and mechanisms that enable rapid biological evolution of
populations facing major environmental changes. By coupling demographic
and landscape genetic models, population demogenetics offers a suitable
framework for analyzing the monitoring of contemporary populations and
for predicting their short- and medium-term fates under constrained
spatio-temporal scenarios. This formalism allows for the integration
and full exploitation of time series data.

The objective of this thesis will be to study the methodological strengths
and limitations of a mathematical demogenetic model for inferring the
demographic, biological, and eco-evolutionary processes occurring in
such populations. This study will provide a better understanding of
how repeated foundation effects, the complex demographies of invasion
fronts, and the random variability of reproductive success can explain the
emergence and maintenance of biological specificities in populations at
the periphery of their ranges. We will apply these analytical approaches
to real-life monitoring of invasive populations in aquatic environments
and along waterways to infer their demographic and evolutionary dynamics.

The acquired knowledge will inform management actions and planned
regulations.

The lab:
https://www.umr-decod.fr/en

Funding research institutes:
https://www.inrae.fr/en/divisions/ecodiv

https://www.inrae.fr/en/divisions/aqua
The city:
https://www.tourisme-rennes.com/en/

sstoeckel <solenn.stoeckel@inrae.fr>

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