Postdoctoral position OT-29341
Post-doc: Modélisation des interactions plante-nématode pour prédire le développement de la virulence
06600
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 be working at the Institut Sophia Agrobiotech (ISA), an international research institute funded by INRAE and Université Côte d'Azur. Situated at the interface of Environment and Agriculture, the main research topics concern the study of interactions between plant, pathogens and symbionts and their dynamics in time and space. The postdoctoral fellow will join the M2P2 team which develops theoretical approaches to unravel agroecosystems functioning and design new plant protection methods. The topic will also involve collaborations with Teams GAME and IPN at ISA.
Dynamical models of plant-nematode interactions to predict virulence outbreaks
You will participate in the European project NEM-EMERGE, which focuses on one of the most harmful soil pathogens of plants, root-knot and potato cyst nematodes, by exploring the central drivers of their emergence and proliferation: global warming and genetic selection. You will participate in WP3 “Genetic selection: Countering the outbreak of virulence in asexually reproducing root-knot nematodes”. This work package intends to develop new molecular markers of nematode virulence, that can be leveraged to acquire time-series population data in competition experiments between virulent and avirulent nematodes on susceptible and resistant plants. These data will ultimately lead to the development of proliferation models that will underpin decisions on the most appropriate control measures.
You will tackle the modeling part of this Work Package. Based on earlier works of the team (e.g. Nilusmas et al. 2020, Penlap et al. 2026), you will develop a compartmental dynamical model describing the interactions between plants and root-knot nematodes. More specifically, the model will account for plant growth, plant resistance, nematode feeding, virulent and avirulent nematodes with differential fitness, and competition between nematodes. The model will include the influence of temperature on host and pest growth, as well as potential temperature-mediated resistance breaking. This will allow to take into account the impact of seasonal variations and predict longer term consequences of global warming on virulent nematode outbreaks. The model will be used to assess the efficiency and sustainability of control measures such as e.g. crop rotations.
Activities
- Development of mathematical models
- Model calibration and fitting
- Numerical analysis of model dynamics
- Writing scientific articles; participating in international conferences
- Collaborative working with project partners (Sophia Antipolis, Rennes, Spain)
¡ References
J. Penlap Tamagoua, F. Grognard, V. Baldazzi, S. Touzeau, 2026. Plant tolerance is explained by resource-based plant-nematode interactions. Mathematical Biosciences 398:109711. 10.1016/j.mbs.2026.109711
S. Nilusmas, M. Mercat, T. Perrot, C. Djian‐caporalino, P. Castagnone-Sereno, S. Touzeau, V. Calcagno, L. Mailleret, 2020. Multi‐seasonal modelling of plant‐nematode interactions reveals efficient plant resistance deployment strategies. Evolutionary Applications 13(9):2206-2221. 10.1111/eva.12989
Particular conditions of activity : full time. The position will be supervised by Valentina Baldazzi, Vincent Calcagno, Ludovic Mailleret and Suzanne Touzeau.
Training and skills
Recommended training: PhD degree in in theoretical/mathematical biology or related discipline
Required skills: experience in population dynamics/epidemiology modeling, programming skills (Python, Julia), strong written and oral communication abilities, proficiency in English, autonomy and collaborative mindset.
Desired skills: Experience in data assimilation and model calibration.
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
All persons employed by or hosted at INRAE, a public research establishment, are subject to the Civil Service Code, particularly with regard to the obligation of neutrality and respect for the principle of secularism. In carrying out their functions, whether or not they are in contact with the public, they must not express their religious, philosophical or political convictions through their behaviour or by what they wear. > Find out more: fonction publique.gouv.fr website (in French)