two Postdoctoral researchers鈥� Diversity of Xylella fastidiosa on forest and agriculture trees and shrubs in temperate climates
The Earth & Life Institute, applied microbiology department, plant health lab at UC Louvain is offering two post-doctoral position in plant bacteriology to investigate the potential impact of Xylella fastidiosa present in under-studied regions in the USA to forest and agricultural trees and shrubs, in the frame of a collaborative project funded by the European Food Safety Authority aiming at gathering a better understanding of the risk caused by X. fastidiosa in temperate climatic zones, with Rodrigo Almeida (University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA) and Boris Vinatzer (Virginia Tech, VA, USA). The candidates are expected to contribute to ground-breaking research in comparative genomics, microbial ecology and evolution, plant-microbe interactions, with direct impact on pest risk assessment.
Two-year post-doctoral scientist position at the UCLouvain, Belgium, focused on developing machine learning-based parameterizations of leads opening and closing in a sea ice model
Sea ice models rely on equations derived from our understanding of physical processes. However, some processes cannot be resolved explicitly due to the coarse spatial model resolution or to incomplete understanding of the processes involved, and thus must be parametrized. These parameterizations are a dominant source of uncertainty and contribute significantly to biases in climate models. Parameterizations can be based on the system鈥檚 dynamics or rely on relatively simple hypotheses. For instance, some sea ice models include a minimum fraction of leads (open water areas within the ice pack) to account for opening mechanisms that are not captured by the model, preventing unphysically low simulated lead fractions to occur in winter. Recently, machine learning techniques have been proposed to derive parameterizations directly from observations. The objective here is to develop a new parameterization of leads opening and closing in the sea ice model SI3 using this approach.
In this framework, applications are open for the following position:
Post-doctoral researcher
Starting date: Ideally in February 2025 but can be negotiated
Full time position for 24 months
Postdoc position in ecology - Evaluation of floral enrichment effects to maximise biological control and pollination ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes
Agricultural systems in all European countries face degradation of ecological networks, loss of associated farmland biodiversity and their landscape Ecosystem Services (e.g., pollination or pest management) due to intensive agriculture practices, habitat simplification, and pesticide use.
The European project Biodiversa+ ConservES (Living-lab approach to floral enrichment as a tool to conserve biodiversity and maximise ecosystem services in European agricultural landscapes) has been conducted in four countries (France, Germany, Tchec Republic and Belgium) since 2022. To evaluate the effects of 2 types of flowering green infrastructures, hedgerows and flowering managed strips on both pest management and pollination services for cereal fields, diverse species groups are studied: plants, aphids, parasitoids, slugs, carabids, syrphids and bees.
The post-doc researcher will analyse data acquired during 2 years in Belgian sites.