Within the EU project RESILIENCE, coordinated by Utrecht University, the Ben-Gurion University, Israel, offers a Postdoc position to study the dynamics of fronts and the possible roles of front instabilities in reversing degradation processes, such as desertification and species invasion in resource-limited ecosystems.

Your job
Ecosystems are highly nonlinear systems characterised by a multiplicity of stable states, but seldom have the time to converge to these states. Their dynamics are rather affected by unpredictable natural drivers and human intervention to meet various functional needs. Multistability in variable environments is of deep concern because of the possible occurrence of state transitions involving abrupt declines in ecosystem function as tipping points are traversed, or gradual declines by front propagation. For the ERC-Synergy project Pathways of resilience and evasion of tipping in ecosystems (RESILIENCE), we offer a postdoc position at Ben-Gurion University to study the dynamics of fronts and the possible roles of front instabilities in reversing degradation processes, such as desertification and species invasion in resource-limited ecosystems.

RESILIENCE aims to fundamentally advance our understanding and predictions of tipping points and critical transitions in ecosystems and reveal how these can be evaded and even reversed through spatial pattern formation. RESILIENCE will develop a new theory for emerging resilience through spatial pattern formation and link this with real tipping-prone biomes undergoing accelerating global change: savanna and tundra.

You are expected to:

1. be involved in the development of spatial vegetation models that capture relevant plant-resource and plant-soil feedbacks;
2. study the models using mathematical analysis, numerical simulations, and numerical continuation in one and two spatial dimensions;
3. confront model predictions with available empirical data.

You will benefit from the expertise of the four Principal Investigators (PIs) in the RESILIENCE project: Ehud Meron, a physicist at Ben-Gurion University; Arjen Doelman, a mathematician at Leiden University; Max Rietkerk, an ecologist at Utrecht University; and Isla Meyers-Smith, an ecologist at the University of British Columbia.

We are looking for a self-motivated postdoc with:

• a PhD in physics, mathematics, or engineering sciences;
• a solid mathematical background and an interest in pattern formation and ecology;
• excellent English language skills;
• acquaintance with nonlinear dynamics, pattern formation, and ecology, and experience in modeling and numerical computations are advantageous.

The project is interdisciplinary and affinity with or interest in working in an interdisciplinary environment is important.

The successful candidate will be offered a postdoctoral fellowship to work with Professor Ehud Meron in the Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research (SIDEER) of the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research (BIDR), located in the Sede Boqer campus of Ben-Gurion University. The offer is for one year, extendable to a second and a third year upon successful assessments in the previous year. The monthly fellowship will be approximately 11,000 NIS. The offer includes a low-rate residence, most likely in the university dorms.

Universiteit Utrecht

The SIDEER is an interdisciplinary research institute consisting of physicists, applied mathematicians, ecologists, and environmental scientists, covering in their research major aspects of dryland ecosystems. It is one of three institutes that comprise the BIDR, with the other two offering complementary expertise in water research, agriculture, and dryland biotechnologies. The BIDR is located in the Sede-Boqer Campus, about 60km south of the main campus of BGU in the city of Be'er-Sheva. The Sede Boqer campus is an intimate place with a spectacular and inspiring desert landscape and an international atmosphere, thanks to the Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies it hosts.