Statistical modelling and simulation engineer for the development of long-term genetic improvement and conservation strategies

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INRAE presentation

The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE) is a major player in research and innovation. It is a community of 12,000 people with 272 research, experimental research, and support units located in 18 regional centres throughout France. Internationally, INRAE is among the top research organisations in the agricultural and food sciences, plant and animal sciences, as well as in ecology and environmental science. It is the world’s leading research organisation specialising in agriculture, food and the environment. INRAE’s goal is to be a key player in the transitions necessary to address major global challenges. Faced with a growing world population, climate change, resource scarcity, and declining biodiversity, the Institute has a major role to play in building solutions and supporting the necessary acceleration of agricultural, food and environmental transitions.

Work environment, missions and activities

You will work in the BioForA Joint Research Unit (UMR) ('Integrated biology for the development of tree and forest diversity'), at the INRAE Val de Loire Centre in Orléans (France). This unit works on the development of forest genetic resources for sustainable wood production in a changing climate. The aim of the research is to elucidate the complexity of tree responses (in terms of wood formation, growth, reproduction or root development) to environmental variation and their relationship with aspects of wood production. To this end, the unit develops diverse approaches in physiology and functional genomics, quantitative and population genetics, and breeding and conservation methodology. The unit is involved in a number of projects and collaborations with government agencies for the management and production of forest reproductive material.

You will work in a H2020 collaborative research project currently running in our laboratory (OPTFOREST 2022-2027, https://www.optforests.eu/) and you will use simulations to compare different strategies for managing genetic diversity and genetic gain in the context of artificial selection that are operationally simple, quick to implement and inexpensive. These strategies will be based on different typologies of programmes corresponding to different species and their demogenetic, ecological, environmental and economic contexts. These typologies will be defined in collaboration with several European partners involved in the project, based on data and experience of their respective species and programmes. These strategies will be compared with a reference strategy based on optimal management of diversity and genetic gain for maximum efficiency in the short and long term. You will use the simulation tools and codes already available in our team (scripts using AlphaSimR and MoBPS), which you will be able to improve with new developments. These tools use virtual genomes with a finite number of loci and a set of hypotheses about the genetic architectures underlying the traits of interest. All data generation and processing will be carried out within a methodological framework that is reproducible, versioned and traceable at every stage. You will work in close collaboration with the scientists behind these typologies and with our bioinformatician on all aspects related to the reproducibility of the protocols. The results of this simulation and application work will be the subject of several scientific publications.

The proposed duration is 12 months and the starting date could be 1 July, subject to administrative procedures.

Working in Orléans (45, Loiret), mainly with computer workstations. Easy access to the laboratory by public transport (tramway and bus). Professional travel in France and Europe for meetings and workshops.

Training and skills

• Engineering degree or Master's degree in agronomy, biology or genetics, bioinformatics, applied mathematics..
• Other desirable skills: plant breeding or genetic improvement, programming and modelling in R, bioinformatics and knowledge of the Linux environment and computer clusters.
• Good knowledge of written and spoken English

INRAE's life quality

By joining our teams, you benefit from (depending on the type of contract and its duration):

- up to 30 days of annual leave + 15 days "Reduction of Working Time" (for a full time);
- parenting support: CESU childcare, leisure services;
- skills development systems: training, career advise;
- social support: advice and listening, social assistance and loans;
- holiday and leisure services: holiday vouchers, accommodation at preferential rates;
- sports and cultural activities;
- collective catering.

How to apply

I send my CV and my motivation letter