The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), founded in 1846, is the largest of the ten federal scientific institutions that are governed by the Belgian Science Policy Office (Belspo). It is a world-class research institute covering a wide range of disciplines, from biology to geology, from oceanography to taxonomy and from paleontology to ecology. One in three people employed at the RBINS is a scientist. With 38 million specimens conserved as Belgian heritage of global significance, the RBINS collections constitute a central point for multiple research projects, as well as for permanent and temporary exhibitions.
The Paleobiosphere Evolution Research Unit is one of the three research subdivisions of the Operational Directorate Earth and History of life. It conducts research on the biodiversity and evolution of fossil fauna and flora through the 1. Evolution and the Tree of Life with a focus on the major events in the evolution of life and adaptations to major environmental changes in the past; 2. Palecosystem dynamics with the biostratigraphy and ecosystem evolution by reconstructing fossil environments and paleoclimatology.
The Belspo BRAIN project PerissOrigin (Origin and early radiation of perissodactyls based on precious fossil collections) is led by RBINS with the Institute of Evolutionary Sciences of Montpellier (ISEM) of the University of Montpellier and with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of Beijing as partners. This project aims at carrying out a global synthesis of the first stages of the evolutionary history of Perissodactyla and the links with other groups of primitive ungulates. PerissOrigin will consider the new discoveries of the last decades, both taxonomic and phylogenetic, and will rely on the exceptional collections of the RBINS. The objectives of the project are divided into two aspects, the collection and the scientific expertise.
Collection objectives: 1. Valorize the heritage and the RBINS paleontological collections; 2. Describe almost complete unpublished remains with high scientific potential; 3. Undertake the digitization of exceptional specimens and holotypes and make them available on Virtual Collection and Morphosource platforms to facilitate access for scientists; 4. Increase international cooperation via the partners included in the project that can benefit the Heritage collections.
Scientific Objectives: 1. Decipher the first steps of the evolutionary history of Perissodactyla by establishing a phylogenetic synthesis of early perissodactyls, with a particular attention on the relations within the European and North American equoids; 2. Investigate the paleobiogeographic origin of Perissodactyla; 3. Study the evolutionary trends (synapomorphies) within each superfamily.
You have a PhD degree in sciences with a specialization in vertebrate paleontology. If you obtained your degree outside the Benelux, an equivalency recognition is required.
The date of commencement of employment would ideally be September 1st, 2023 and not later than December 31, 2023.
You can apply for this vacancy by sending your motivation letter and your CV (plus 2 potential referees) in English to the coordinator of the project:
Thierry Smith (RBINS) Rue Vautier 29, 1000 Bruxelles – tsmith@naturalsciences.be, up to and including 4 June 2023 (by midnight Brussels time).
The selection committee will review all of the applications as soon as possible after the application deadline. As soon as a decision has been made, we will inform you about the next steps in the selection procedure.
Within the framework of a BRAIN-be 2.0 project ‘Museum epigenomics as a Toolbox in Evolutionary Research’ (MUTER), financed by the Belgian Science Policy (BelSPo), the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) is recruiting a MSc. researcher to conduct epigenomic research on beetle and snail island populations.
This project explores the epigenomic landscape of both historical natural history collections and contemporary zoological specimens and will illustrate how museum epigenomics can aid in unravelling the role of DNA methylation in ecological and evolutionary adaptation. We will use two study systems: an adaptive radiation of caterpillar hunters (Calosoma beetles) at the Galápagos and a shell adaptation in response to differential wave-exposure in the marine periwinkle Tectarius striata at the Azores. This research will explore i) the epigenetic contribution to the early stages of adaptive evolution, ii) the relative importance of genetic determinism versus phenotypic plasticity underlying morphological variation, and iii) best-practices in quantifying variation of the methylome in museum collections. We will apply two different methylation profiling methods: reduced representation bisulphite sequencing (RRBS) and whole genome bisulphite sequencing (WGBS). The successful candidate will work in collaboration with all partners of the MUTER project at RBINS (Carl Vangestel, Gontran Sonet, Frederik Hendrickx and Thierry Backeljau), Ghent University (Jana Asselman) and Uppsala University/Edinburgh University (Katerina Guschanski). Lab work and data analyses will be performed under direct supervision of the Joint Experimental Molecular Unit (JEMU) at the RBINS (http://jemu.myspecies.info).
Application to be submitted electronically in a single PDF file, by e-mail, to Carl Vangestel (cvangestel@naturalsciences.be) with subject heading: “application MSc MUTER”.
The application should include a CV, a motivation letter and 2 reference letters.
Deadline for applications: 04/06/2023.
All applications will be assessed after the deadline and shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview (remote or live depending on availabilities).
Contact person for more information:
Carl Vangestel: cvangestel@naturalsciences.be
The Operational Directorate ‘Natural Environment’ (OD Nature) at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) and the Earth and Life Institute (ELI) at the Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain) jointly offer a full-time (100%) research position to develop the next generation of marine forecasting and nowcasting techniques, products, and services for the Belgian part of the North Sea. This vacancy is part of the BELSPO FED-tWIN research profile Prf-2022-021 ‘Next-TIDE’.
The FED-tWIN programme is a federal research programme to support sustainable cooperation between the ten Federal Scientific Institutions (FSI) which fall under Belgian Science Policy (BELSPO) and the eleven Belgian universities: https://www.belspo.be/belspo/research/FEDtWIN_en.stm.
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
The Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), founded in 1846, is one of the ten federal scientific institutions that are governed by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO). The Institute aims to provide the scientific world, public authorities and civil society with good and relevant science, appropriate advice, opening avenues of discovery in nature, its long history, and its sustainable management. 200 skill-full scientists -most of them with a PhD level- conduct world-class research within three scientific Operational Directorates: ‘Natural Environment’, ‘Earth and History of Life’ and ‘Taxonomy and Phylogeny’.
Thanks to 70+ marine scientists (biologists, chemists, geologists, physicists, oceanographers, modelers, mathematicians, geographers, engineers, and bioengineers), OD Nature plays a pivotal role in the transdisciplinary study of the North Sea ecosystems. It operates the Belgian Marine Forecasting Centre, and the Belgian Marine Data Centre. It manages the Reasearch Vessel Belgica. It develops the marine modelling frameworks COHERENS. It contributes to various European Research Infrastructure (EMBRC, ICOS, LifeWatch, JERICO, etc.) and is a production unit for the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service. It is responsible for the follow-up of different legal obligations for the management of the marine environment. It works on environmental impact assessments of human activities at sea, aerial surveillance of the sea, monitoring of the quality of the sea in the framework of the OSPAR Convention and the European Framework Directives (Water and Marine Strategy). It hosts the offices of EuroGOOS AISBL and SeaDataNet AISBL.
Université catholique de Louvain
The Université catholique de Louvain, founded in 1425, is a multidisciplinary university in the heart of Europe, member of the Circle-U European university alliance. Its 14 faculties and 23 doctoral schools offer degrees and research opportunities to more than 30,000 students in almost all fields of study. Its 22 research institutes, 40 technology platforms, 2 university hospitals, and 3 science parks, which include 2 incubators and host more than 280 companies and 84 spin-offs and start-ups, are a testament to UCLouvain’s dedication to conducting fundamental and applied research. They also, along with UCLouvain’s faculties and schools, exercise a cross-disciplinary research approach.
UCLouvain is a diverse and open community. One-third of its professors are women and nearly the same proportion are internationals. One-fifth of its students are international, representing more than 120 nationalities. UCLouvain partners with higher education institutions throughout the world. Hence, it participates in several international initiatives that open doors to new teaching and research projects. Moreover, recognising that exploring major social issues demands a more comprehensive, cross-disciplinary approach, UCLouvain launched a new research initiative, the ‘Louvain4’ consortiums. These bring together researchers from all sectors of the university to study themes of societal interest. Nine key topics have so far been identified: nutrition, ageing, cities and community life, education, energy, water, evolution, space and migration.
The Earth and Life Institute (ELI) of UCLouvain gathers more than 300 scientists, covering a wide range of disciplines in the Earth & Life sciences. The research objective is to understand the basic processes of the Earth & Life System at different scales and to design sustainable solutions to meet some of the major challenges for our societies. Thanks to its critical size, the institute's role is to promote interdisciplinarity and stimulate interactions between scientists of complementary expertise.
Research
The FED-tWIN Researcher will strive to become a leading expert in applying machine learning techniques to marine forecasting and nowcasting products and services. They will establish their own research group by designing innovative research projects, securing competitive funding, coordinating projects, and mentoring junior researchers, including PhD candidates.
The researcher will foster collaborations with national and international partners, including those within the digital twin of the ocean initiative. They will actively disseminate research findings within the global academic community through publications and conference presentations.
Working at the intersection of the RBINS Marine Forecasting Centre and UCLouvain Earth and Life Institute, the FED-tWIN Researcher will collaborate closely with colleagues from both institutions, further solidifying the existing partnerships between them.
Teaching
The FED-tWIN Researcher will supervise Master's students and research internships at both institutions. The ideal candidate must thrive in a multicultural and multilingual environment, working effectively with students, researchers, professors, and technical/administrative colleagues.
Services
The FED-tWIN researcher will directly enhance the products and services offered by the RBINS Marine Forecasting Centre. They will actively participate in the operational and administrative aspects of both departments, as well as contribute to fundraising efforts for projects related to the research profile. This includes integrating their research activities within the broader research and outreach strategies of both institutions. With a 50% appointment at each institution, the FED-tWIN researcher will have limited administrative responsibilities at the department or faculty level.
The candidate holds a PhD degree in Sciences (Physics, Mathematics, Oceanography, Meteorology, Marine Ecosystems, etc.) or in Applied Sciences (Mechanical Engineer, Applied Mathematics, Bioengineer, etc.).
The PhD degree was obtained at most 12 years prior to the job application submission date. The 12-year period is extended by one year for each maternity, parental & adoption leave of the candidate and for each long-term sick leave of the candidate or immediate family members.
Specific expertise
The candidate will have a solid research expertise in Earth Sciences (preferably in oceanography, meteorology, hydrology, geology and/or marine ecosystem) and in Data Sciences (preferably in machine learning, data mining, etc.).
The candidate must have a good background in statistics and probability.
Experience(s)
The candidate is expected to have a strong research curriculum within the domain of oceanography or machine learning. The research quality should be apparent from publications in leading international journals.
Previous work experience in international projects is desirable.
Previous experience in writing research proposals would be a significant asset.
Technical skills
The candidate will have outstanding programming skills, with experience in programming languages such as Python, C/C++ or Fortran 2008.
Experience with neural network frameworks (such as PyTorch, Tensorflow, JAX, etc.) will be an advantage.
The ideal candidate must possess the following skills:
We offer a full-time researcher position that will take place as two 50% contracts at the RBINS and UCLouvain.
RBINS offers
UCLouvain offers
The start date will be set by mutual agreement with the candidate, but this date shall not be later than 1st March 2024.
To apply, please email a single PDF file containing: (i) a concise motivation statement for your application, including an outline of your future research plans (maximum 2 A4 pages, in English); (ii) your curriculum vitae accompanied by a publication list and contact information for 3 professional references; (iii) the academic dossier containing all pertinent elements (degree and diploma copies with associated grades, etc.). The application should be sent to job-next-tide@naturalsciences.be (subject of email: “job application”) before June 18th 2023, 23:59 (CET).
Only applications that correspond to the profile and sent within the prescribed deadline will be accepted and responded to.
The selection committee will review all of the applications as soon as possible after the application deadline. As soon as a decision has been made, we will inform you about the next steps in the selection procedure.
For further information regarding the job itself or the terms and conditions of employment, please contact Dr. Sébastien Legrand (slegrand@naturalsciences.be) and Prof. Emmanuel Hanert (emmanuel.hanert@uclouvain.be).
General information about RBINS and UCLouvain research can be found on their respective websites: https://www.naturalsciences.be/en/science/home and https://uclouvain.be/en/research/welcome-desk.
Send your profile by email to jobs@naturalsciences.be
Wenst u te solliciteren voor een studentenjob bij het Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen ?
Gebruik dan het “sollicitatieformulier jobstudent”. Voor een geldige kandidatuur, vragen wij om dit online formulier in te vullen.
Vous êtes intéressé pour un job d’étudiant à l’Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique?
Utilisez le « formulaire de sollicitation job d’étudiant ». Pour que votre candidature soit prise en considération, veuillez remplir ce formulaire électronique.