We are looking for a young researcher for a three-year postdoctoral position. The candidate will work on improving the understanding of organic matter mineralization (SOM) in smallholder low-input cropping systems in contrasting tropical conditions. Smallholder cropping systems mainly rely on SOM to provide nutrients for crop growth. Yet, the simulation of SOM mineralization remains highly uncertain and very different between soil-crop simulation models. The candidate will carry out modeling studies on plant growth, soil C and N dynamics for tropical cropping systems. She/he will be hosted by the Research Group AIDA (“Agro-ecology and Sustainable Intensification of Annual Crops”) at CIRAD in Montpellier. This work will contribute to the scientific outputs of the ALAMOD project (PEPR FairCarboN) (https://www.pepr-faircarbon.fr/).

The candidate will assess the ability of various models to simulate the dynamics of soil organic matter (SOM) mineralization using two complementary approaches:

1)         Simulation of short-term nitrogen mineralization and crop uptake dynamics.

2)         Simulation of long-term soil organic matter dynamics

The first approach will assess the ability of key international soil-crop models to simulate nitrogen mineralization in tropical soils. This will involve the coordination of a new low-input cropping systems modelling exercise in the framework of AgMIP (https://agmip.org/low-input/, following previous studies conducted by our group. Such an exercise will use datasets from different experimental sites in the tropics, covering representative tropical soils.

The second approach will evaluate the ability of the STICS ((https://www6.paca.inrae.fr/stics_eng/) soil-crop model to simulate soil organic carbon mineralization and soil nitrogen dynamics in tropical soils. The STICS model simulates the water, C and N cycles for a wide range of crops. However, it has not been extensively used for the simulation of cropping systems under tropical conditions. This involves modeling to predict crop yields and soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics using comprehensive datasets of tropical experimental sites. The candidate will aim to improve the model performance for tropical soils.

Specific tasks include:

-           Contacting and coordinating a large group of international modelers within the AgMIP framework (https://agmip.org/ ).

-           Search in the literature and format appropriate datasets for the first modeling task

-           Model set-up for simulating crop growth and soil C and N dynamics

-           Implementation of model improvements (model coding could be needed).

-           Synthesis of modelling results in scientific publications and oral presentations at project, network meetings and conferences.

We seek a committed candidate with the following professional and personal qualifications:

-           PhD with experience in Agronomy, Soil Science or a related area

-           Experience with parameterization and use of dynamic crop and soil simulation models

-           Experience with handling datasets and statistical analyses of experimental and modelling data

-           Willingness to collaborate with others as part of a multi-disciplinary research team 

-           Comfort with working independently

-           A proven record of research publications in peer-reviewed international journals 

The candidate must have an enthusiastic personality and possess good communication skills.