Junior research scientist on ecophysiology of diversified horticultural systems

CR-2025-AGROECOSYSTEM-7 - The PSH unit seeks to improve the functionality and sustainability of fruit and vegetable production systems in a context of adapting to climatic constraints, preserving natural resources, reducing the use of pesticides, restoring biodiversity, and improving the nutritional and health quality of the products consumed. Within this unit, you will join the CQFD research theme, the aim of which is to understand the functioning of plants and their organs, fruit growth and quality, and plant defence under sub-optimal growth conditions. You will also interact closely with researchers from the MESH theme, whose aim is to develop methods, concepts, and evaluation criteria for multi-performance horticultural systems. Your objective will be to develop and use modelling to understand the functioning and sharing of resources in heterogeneous horticultural canopies with pronounced spatial structuring, typical of agroecological production contexts (mixtures of species or varieties, addition of service plants, photovoltaic cover, etc.). Modelling will be seen as a way of (i) aggregating knowledge at plant and plot level and (ii) helping to design complex horticultural systems in order to optimise the intra-plot spatial configuration of these crops and to rationalize their management by questioning the multiplicity of horticultural practices (fertilisation, irrigation, thinning, pruning, etc.). To do this, you will develop a crop model capable of representing all the ecophysiological processes (above and below ground) associated with the sharing of resources (competition or synergy for water, nitrogen, light) between plants and necessary for predicting production in its various dimensions (quantity, quality, variability). Furthermore, the model should facilitate the prediction of bundles of ecosystem services in horticultural plots, thus providing a valuable design aid. To ensure the accuracy of the model and to elucidate the underlying processes of resource sharing, a continuous feedback loop between modelling and experimentation is essential. You will be able to draw on existing plant models within the PSH unit, but also on other complementary experimental and modelling approaches developed by our partners. Your work will play a central role in meeting the major challenge of the agroecological transition of horticultural systems, with the aim of deploying your results for the benefit of the various players in the sector.