Job offer

Organisation/Company: Université de Poitiers

Department: UMR CNRS 7267

Research Field: Biological sciences » Biodiversity, Agricultural sciences » Other, Environmental science » Ecology, Environmental science » Global change

Researcher Profile: First Stage Researcher (R1)

Positions: PhD Positions

Country: France

Application Deadline: 16 May 2025 - 23:59 (Europe/Paris)

Type of Contract: Temporary

Job Status: Full-time

Offer Starting Date: 1 Oct 2025

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

Studies showing a decline in biodiversity in agricultural areas are accumulating, and there is a strong social demand to understand and reduce the negative effects of agriculture on biodiversity. Along with the simplification of agricultural landscapes and crop diversity, pesticide use has increased in quantity and diversity. Among other factors, the use of pesticides is suspected of playing a role in the decline in biodiversity in agricultural areas. However, the demonstration of an in natura effect of pesticides on biodiversity is still relatively rare (especially outside of avifauna), and studies are lacking to determine the effects of these substances, which are often encountered in sublethal doses but in cocktails. This PhD thesis (3 years) will fill this gap by focusing on organisms providing the ecosystem services of crop pollination, pest control, and organic matter decomposition within agrosystems: pollinating insects (and other floricultural insects) and terrestrial isopods (woodlice).

Such studies are particularly necessary on these key ecosystem organisms: although invertebrates are taxonomically very diverse (they make up the vast majority of biodiversity), ecotoxicological literature is largely dominated by the honey bee Apis mellifera. The recent spatialization of pesticide sales data from the Banque Nationale des Ventes de produits phytopharmaceutiques by authorized distributors opens up new avenues of research to fill these gaps. Combining this pesticide use data with other environmental data (past and present land use, farming practices, climate, soil properties) and biodiversity data from two citizen science programs (Spipoll - Suivi photographique des insectes pollinisateurs, OAB - Observatoire Agricole de la Biodiversité), the PhD thesis will develop a multifactorial approach to estimate the responses of insect pollinator (and other flower-visitor) communities and terrestrial isopods to multiple phytopharmaceutical substances, while dissociating them from the effects of other environmental factors. The hindsight of these programs (>10 years) will enable us to add a temporal dimension to the project and develop a quasi-causal approach.

The thesis will compare two contrasting communities in terms of functional traits and roles within ecosystems, thus providing a more general view of the effects of pesticides and their cocktail effect on biodiversity. One aim is to produce various indicators of the state of pollinator and sowbug communities at the Neo-Aquitaine scale, comparable with a national benchmark.

Where to apply

E-mail: nicolas.deguines@univ-poitiers.fr

Requirements

Research Field: Environmental science » Ecology

Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications:

• Applicant must hold a Master degree in Ecology or a Master degree in modelling with a strong interest in scientific ecology.
• A strong experience with R/R Studio will be necessary to manipulate large datasets and a good knowledge in statistical modelling (e.g. generalized mixed modeling) will be required.
• No field campaign will be necessary and the candidates must thus have a strong appeal for data analysis.
• Advanced knowledge in landscape ecology, community ecology, functional ecology, and conservation sciences are sought in the ideal candidate.
• Additional knowledge in ecotoxicology and agronomy would be a plus.
• An interest in invertebrates (pollinators and woodlice in particular) would help, as well as for citizen sciences.

Reading and writing scientific English is required, as well as a strong will to write manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals.

Ability to work both autonomously and in a team are important.

Languages:

• FRENCH: Good
• ENGLISH: Good

Years of Research Experience: None

Additional Information

Selection process:

To apply to this PhD position, candidates should provide:

• Contact of references (e.g. supervisor of previous internships)
• Academic Transcript of Records (at least first year of the Master degree and ideally the first semester of the 2nd year of Master degree)

Candidates must send their complete application by email to Nicolas DEGUINES.
An interview of the three best applicants will be organized in June 2025.