Offer Description
Response diversity describes the variation in how individuals, species, or functional groups respond to environmental change and the concept is increasingly recognised as a key driver of ecosystem resilience. Understanding and promoting response diversity is therefore essential for conserving biodiversity and supporting resilient ecosystems in a changing world.
The University of Namur invites applications for a Doctoral Candidate position within the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network ReDiLEEP. ReDiLEEP brings together leading universities, research institutes, and non-academic partners across Europe and beyond to advance response diversity research and translate new knowledge into ecosystem management, restoration, and biodiversity policy.
Research Project DC7
Predicting how ecological communities respond to environmental change is challenging because different environmental drivers are often studied separately. Yet it is possible that the ecological impact of a disturbance depends less on the identity of the driver than on how species respond to it. DC7 will test this hypothesis by investigating whether two simple characteristics of species responses—mean response and response diversity—can consistently predict community-level outcomes across different environmental contexts.
Using high-throughput laboratory microcosm experiments with algae and heterotrophic protists, you will quantify species responses to multiple environmental drivers, including temperature change, nutrient enrichment and biomass extraction, and determine whether these measurements predict the effects of both sustained (press) and short-term (pulse) disturbances on species coexistence and temporal stability. By combining controlled experiments with statistical analyses and close interaction with the theoretical work developed in DC6, the project will provide one of the first rigorous tests of whether response diversity offers a general, predictive understanding of how environmental change shapes ecological communities.
More information on the doctoral network can be found here: https://redileep.eu
Your Responsibilities
- Design and conduct laboratory microcosm experiments to investigate how different environmental drivers influence species responses, community dynamics and ecosystem stability.
- Analyse experimental data using state-of-the-art statistical approaches.
- Actively communicate results to the developers of predictive models within ReDiLEEP.
- Disseminate your research through publications in leading international journals and presentations at international conferences and workshops.
- Participate actively in ReDiLEEP network training, secondments, dissemination, reporting, and cohort activities.
Secondments and Network Training
The position includes 6 months of planned secondments at the University of Zürich.
The successful candidate will join an interdisciplinary cohort of doctoral researchers and benefit from ReDiLEEP training in response diversity methods, data management, reproducible code, R/Tidyverse, machine learning and AI for ecologists, visualisation, evidence-based policymaking, science-policy communication, and policy brief writing.
Where to apply
E-mail: frederik.delaender@unamur.be
Requirements
Research Field: Biological sciences
Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent
Skills/Qualifications
- Master's degree in Ecology, Microbiology, Environmental Sciences, or related disciplines.
- A strong interest in community ecology, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
- Experience with ecological experiments and/or quantitative data analysis
- Strong data analysis skills (preferably in R).
- Excellent English.
Specific Requirements
MSCA Eligibility Criteria
- Mobility rule: applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity, such as work or studies, in Belgium for more than 12 months during the 36 months preceding the recruitment date.
- Applicants must not already hold a doctoral degree.
- Applicants must be doctoral candidates and be enrolled, or eligible to be enrolled, in a doctoral programme at the University of Namur.
- Applicants must work full-time and exclusively for the ReDiLEEP project during the appointment, in accordance with the applicable MSCA rules.
- Exceptions to the mobility rule apply for compulsory national service, refugee status, and temporary protection.
Languages: ENGLISH
Level: Excellent
Research Field: Biological sciences
Additional Information
Benefits
- A 48-month, full-time doctoral position at the University of Namur in an international MSCA Doctoral Network.
- Relocation and integration support, including guidance on visas, residence permits, social security, and daily-life integration.
Employment Conditions
- The position is funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks framework and will follow the applicable MSCA Doctoral Network conditions and the University of Namur’s employment regulations.
- Gross salary: In accordance with the regulation of the Marie Curie Fellowship
- Duration: 48 months, full-time.
- Place of work: Namur, Belgium
- Start of employment: Expected starting date is 01 March 2027, subject to final MSCA eligibility verification, doctoral programme enrolment, and completion of administrative onboarding.
Eligibility criteria
Applicants must meet the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network eligibility requirements at the recruitment date:
- Mobility rule: applicants must not have resided or carried out their main activity, such as work or studies, in Belgium for more than 12 months during the 36 months preceding the recruitment date.
- Applicants must not already hold a doctoral degree.
- Applicants must be doctoral candidates and be enrolled, or eligible to be enrolled, in a doctoral programme at the University of Namur.
- Applicants must work full-time and exclusively for the ReDiLEEP project during the appointment, in accordance with the applicable MSCA rules.
- Exceptions to the mobility rule apply for compulsory national service, refugee status, and temporary protection.
Selection process
How to Apply
Please submit your application in English by 15/09/2026 as a single PDF file to frederik.delaender@unamur.be. Applications should include:
- A cover letter describing your motivation for the position, relevant experience, and fit with DC6.
- A curriculum vitae.
- Copies of degree certificates and transcripts.
- A short statement confirming your MSCA mobility-rule eligibility for Belgium including countries of residence, work, and study during the previous 36 months.
- Contact details of two referees who may be contacted for a reference.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interviews in English. According to the current recruitment timeline, eligibility screening is planned for 15-25 September 2026, scientific evaluation for 26 September – 05 October 2026. Interviews are planned for 12-14 October 2026. The final selection will be communicated by 22 October 2026.
Selection Principles
Recruitment will follow open, transparent, and merit-based recruitment principles and the MSCA Code of Conduct for the recruitment of researchers. Applications will be assessed on eligibility, scientific excellence, motivation, fit with the project, quantitative and modelling skills, and potential to contribute to the ReDiLEEP doctoral network. Selection committees will be composed to ensure diverse expertise, appropriate gender balance, international perspective, and absence of conflicts of interest.
Additional comments
For scientific questions about the project or application process, please contact Frederik De Laender. For questions regarding salary, employment conditions or other HR-related matters, please contact arnaud.wilkin@unamur.be. The University of Namur is committed to diversity, equal opportunities, and inclusive recruitment. We welcome applications from qualified candidates of all backgrounds.
Website for additional job details: https://redileep.eu
Work Location(s)
Number of offers available: 1
Company/Institute: University of Namur
Country: Belgium
Contact
City: Namur
Website: http://www.unamur.be
Street: Rue de Bruxelles, 61
Postal Code: 5000
E-Mail: frederik.delaender@unamur.be
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