SD-25116 – PHD IN FOREST ECOSYSTEMS MODELLING

The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) is a Research and Technology Organization (RTO) active in the fields of materials, environment and IT. By transforming scientific knowledge into technologies, smart data and tools, LIST empowers citizens in their choices, public authorities in their decisions and businesses in their strategies.

To address the urgent societal need for science-based management recommendations for forests under increasing pressure, and to leverage on the fast-developing expertise in multi-disciplinary forest research in Luxembourg, LIST, in collaboration with the University of Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research, has formed a dedicated doctoral training unit (DTU) on “Forest function under stress” (FORFUS). It consists of 4 inter-linked research clusters, focusing on below-ground processes, tree and canopy processes, remote sensing observations, and prediction and valuation of forest functions, providing a holistic view on forests as complex systems. See the project website to find out more about the FORFUS doctoral training unit: https://www.list.lu/en/research/project/forfus

Do you want to know more about LIST? Check our website: https://www.list.lu/

Your LIST benefits

• An organization with a passion for impact and strong RDI partnerships in Luxembourg and Europe that works on responsible and independent research projects
• Sustainable by design, empowering our belief that we play an essential role in paving the way to a green society
• Innovative infrastructures and exceptional labs occupying more than 5,000 square metres, including innovations in all that we do
• An environment encouraging curiosity, innovation and entrepreneurship in all areas
• Personalized learning programme to foster our staff’s soft and technical skills
• Multicultural and international work environment with more than 50 nationalities represented in our workforce
• Diverse and inclusive work environment empowering our people to fulfil their personal and professional ambitions
• Gender-friendly environment with multiple actions to attract, develop and retain women in science
• 32 days’ paid annual leave, 11 public holidays, 13-month salary, statutory health insurance
• Flexible working hours, home working policy and access to lunch vouchers

Temporary contract | 14+22+12 months | Belvaux Are you passionate about research? So are we! Come and join us

How will you contribute?

Forest resilience is defined as the ability of the ecosystem to recover from perturbations that eventually lead the system to a different state. In such definition, vulnerability quantifies the degree of the forest ecosystem response to such external perturbations. Climate and human-induced disturbances may alter forest ecosystems dynamics, modifying eventually their resilience to rapidly changing conditions. Previous studies based on the temporal analysis of remote sensing indices suggest a change in the resilience of forest ecosystems, with a declining trend for temperate forests. However, it is still unclear how such changing resilience emerge from altered short-term physiological responses of tree species and modified long-term dynamics of the whole ecosystem. On the other hand, vegetation demography models are numerical tools formulating forest processes based on a classification of similarly sized individuals (i.e., cohorts) within the same class of biomes. Such an approach is suitable for capturing nonlinear size- and trait-dependent ecosystem responses to droughts and heatwaves, which in turn feedback to the distribution of species, modulating the long-term ecosystem resilience to environmental changes.

In this framework, the objectives of your research activities are:

O1: Explain ecosystem response to drought and heatwave events based on diversity in plant hydraulic traits and competition amongst different plant water use strategies.

O2: Assess how alternative CO2 concentration trajectories will result in altered ecosystem dynamics and resilience.

O3: Evaluate the ecosystem resilience simulated by a vegetation demography model with emerging signals extracted from multi-spectral remote sensing products and dendrochronology data

This position is part of the doctoral training unit FORFUS (https://www.list.lu/en/research/project/forfus), associated with the FORLUX (https://www.list.lu/en/research/project/forlux) research project, both of which together will include 13 doctoral candidates and 4 postdoctoral researchers. We seek candidates with a strong potential to excel in a collaborative and multidisciplinary environment, and use their skill for the benefit of society in the long term.

You will follow the rules and curriculum set out by the Doctoral School in Science and Engineering (https://www.uni.lu/research-en/doctoral-education/dsse) and engage in courses and activities organised by the doctoral training unit FORFUS.

Is Your profile described below? Are you our future colleague? Apply now!

Education

• You hold a MSc or equivalent in Environmental Science, Forestry, Civil and Environmental Engineering, or a related discipline in the Geosciences

Experience and skills

• You have a strong interest in terrestrial ecosystems modelling, vegetation demography, plant physiology, and climate change. A background in forest engineering, ecohydrology, and/or ecology would be ideal but is not required. Experience in numerical modelling, big data analysis, and plant ecological and physiological processes,
• You enjoy both modelling, model-data integration, data analysis and working with HPC. Scripting and programming experience are essential.
• You like working in a team, explaining and presenting research ideas and results.

Language skills

• Fluency in English (and French), both oral and written. Other relevant languages are an asset.