diciembre 4, 2024

4th POSTDOCTORAL GRANT COMPETITION Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), Chile – 2024

 

  1. BACKGROUND

The Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB) is a private non-profit corporation dedicated, for the past 16 years, to the study of ecological processes and biodiversity science. Since November 2021, the IEB Basal Center has entered a new phase under the ANID PIA/BASAL project (FB210006). This phase is spearheaded by a Core Research Team comprising internationally recognized experts who are conducting frontier research on critical issues essential for the sustainability of Chile’s nature-based economy.

 

The Principal Investigators (PIs) represent a diverse group of academic institutions across Chile, including eight universities: Universidad de Concepción, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Universidad de Chile, Universidad Austral de Chile, Universidad de La Serena, Universidad de Los Lagos, Universidad Santo Tomás, and Universidad de Talca. Additionally, the project is supported by 21 Research Associates who contribute to its interdisciplinary approach.

 

The IEB Basal Center’s structure is organized into four central, innovative Research Programs (RP) and four Integrating Programs (INP). These programs build on the IEB’s successful track record of connecting science with societal needs. The four Research Programs (RP) focus on key areas: (1) Biodiversity Status and Trends, (2) Ecosystem Integrity and Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP), (3) Biodiversity drivers, and (4) Conservation and Human Well-being. These RPs are complemented by four Integrating Programs (INP) that interlink and enhance the core research areas: (1) BIODATA: Biodiversity Databases and Collections, (2) Long-Term Socioecological Research Network (LTSER), (3) Biodiversity Conservation in Agroecosystems (BCA), and (4) Biological Invasions Laboratory (LIB).

 

This strategic framework enables the IEB to address urgent biodiversity conservation challenges and make a meaningful impact on science, policy, and society in Chile and beyond.

 

 

  1. OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the IEB Basal Center postdoctoral grant is to financially support researchers who develop their research within the Research Programs and Integrative Research Programs of the IEB Basal Center. In this 2024 competition, four maintenance grants for postdoctoral researchers will be awarded. Postdoctoral projects must be sponsored by researchers of two Research Programs and, preferably, incorporate themes of the Integrative Programs. Considering the previous criteria, we also encourage applications aimed at advancing the science of decision-making at the interface of ecology and policy. These projects may focus on developing and applying frameworks to support practical, evidence-based decision-making in conservation and environmental policy, and/or environmental communication and education. The funds for this call come from a donation from the Anglo American Foundation, which is committed as a private counterpart of the ANID PIA/BASAL FB210006 project.

 

 

  1. DURATION

The duration of the grant will be 22 months, starting on the date of joining the IEB Center.

 

  1. REQUIREMENTS

PhD degree obtained after January 1, 2019 and before February 28, 2025. For applicants who have taken maternity leave within the past five years, the PhD degree eligibility date is extended and may have been obtained after January 1, 2018. Candidates should have a solid background in any of the disciplines involved in the scientific topics described in the research and integrative programs (above p.1) and with particular focus on one of the four postdoc projects (see also below section 11).

 

  1. INCOMPATIBILITIES

Researchers who obtain the ANID grant or any equivalent postdoc grant cannot simultaneously hold the IEB grant. In the event that a researcher is awarded both grants (ANID and IEB), he/she must renounce the IEB grant.

 

  1. BENEFITS

The postdoctoral grant from the IEB Basal Center includes an annual maintenance allowance of $CLP 1,884,000 per month (gross salary). This allowance will be accrued in equivalent monthly installments, without annual readjustments, and is renewable annually.

In the case of pregnancy, the researcher may make use of an extension of the pre and post natal maintenance allowance for up to a maximum of six months in total, for which she must inform the IEB Basal Center by presenting a certificate of pregnancy issued by the treating physician or midwife. The months used for this reason will not be considered for the computation of the original period of the subsidy. This benefit may only be requested in the event that the beneficiary is pregnant during the term of the subsidy. This benefit will be extendable to parent beneficiaries who take postnatal period. In both cases, documentation will be required to prove this fact.

 

  1. OBLIGATIONS
  1. Submit at least one scientific publication (WOS indexed) in the first year as main or corresponding author, in journals indexed in WoS or Scopus (Q1 or Q2), in association with the team of researchers of the Basal Center. At the end of the postdoc period, the researcher should have at least one accepted paper and one submitted.
  2. Participate in scientific meetings and seminars where the main results of their work at the Basal Center are presented.
  3. Develop and implement, in collaboration with Investigators of IEB, at least one product of collaboration (e.g. workshop, course, policy brief, applied research proposal) with key national stakeholders (e.g. companies, industry, government agencies, local and indigenous communities).
  4. Researchers must actively engage in communication and outreach efforts to disseminate their research and analytical tools. This includes preparing and delivering public-facing content, such as outreach talks, media articles, blogs, short courses or other communication materials, to translate scientific results into accessible and actionable knowledge for broader audiences, including the general public and decision-makers.

 

  1. APPLICATION

The competition will open on December 4, 2024 and close on January 22, 2025. To apply, the following documents must be submitted (*):

  1. A postdoc proposal (see P. 10 below).
  2. Complete CV in PDF format.
  3. Doctor of Science (PhD) degree certificate or a certificate of PhD exam approved. If the candidate has not yet defended, this must be submitted before February 28, 2024.
  4. A recommendation letter from a senior researcher outside of IEB.
  5. Two letters of sponsorship from IEB Investigators from different Research Programs of IEB. At least one of the sponsors must be Principal Investigator, while the second can either be Principal or Associate Investigator.
  6. ORCID and Google Scholar updated.

This documentation must be sent by e-mail within the deadline indicated above to the following addresses: concursos.ieb@gmail.com. Applications sent after the deadline or with incomplete documentation will not be considered.

 

  1. EVALUATION

Postdoctoral applications will be evaluated by a committee made up entirely of researchers from the IEB Basal Center. The IEB reserves the right to declare the competition void.

For the evaluation of the applications, the following will be taken into account:

  1. Letters of support (10%)
  2. Scientific productivity – select your 10 publications with the highest WOS impact factor (30%).
  3. Scientific outreach experience – include certificates or proofs of activities (10%).
  4. Scientific quality and novelty of the postdoc proposal (30%).
  5. Expected impact of the postdoc proposal in bridging IEB research to national stakeholder needs (20%).

 

 

  1. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE POSTDOC PROPOSAL

Each candidate must develop a postdoctoral research proposal with a maximum length of 2,000 words plus references, structured as follows:

Describe the scientific background and theoretical basis of the research.

Clearly outline the main objectives and hypotheses to be tested.

Detail the research design, methods, and approaches to be used, ensuring they are aligned with the stated goals and hypotheses.

Specify the anticipated outcomes of the research, including scientific outputs (e.g., publications, datasets) and application outcomes (e.g., contributions to policy, stakeholder engagement, conservation practices).

 

Figures and diagrams may be included within the text to support the narrative. The proposal must demonstrate a connection between at least two Research Programs (RPs) and outline the potential contribution to one of the IEB’s Integrative Programs (INPs). Letters of support from IEB researchers affiliated with the mentioned programs must be included in the application.

 

  1. DESCRIPTIONS OF EACH RESEARCH AND INTEGRATIVE PROGRAM, AS WELL AS THE LIST OF CONTACT RESEARCHERS, ARE PROVIDED BELOW FOR REFERENCE.

 

The IEB Center consists of four Research Programs (RP) and four Integrative Programs (INP). The four central Research Programs (RP) are: 1. Biodiversity status and trends, 2. Ecosystem integrity and NCPs, 3. Biodiversity drivers and 4. Conservation and human well-being. The four Integrative Programs (INP) are: 1) Biodiversity databases and collections BIODATA, 2) Long term socio-ecological research network (LTSER), 3) Laboratory of Biological Invasions (LIB), and 4) Biodiversity conservation in agroecosystems (BCA).

RP1 BIODIVERSITY STATUS AND TRENDS – This RP is aimed at evaluating current biodiversity status (risk of extinctions) at multiple spatial and temporal scales, analyse past and forecast future changes in biodiversity (focused on plants and insect pollinators), and the feedback between natural and anthropogenic systems. For this, we : 1) monitor spatial and temporal changes in threatened and endemic plant species in Chile, 2) develop new paleoecological records of biodiversity changes and ecosystem dynamics across Chile from millennial to decadal scales, 3) model extinction risks and potential impact on the tree of life, and assess the relative contribution of past environments and anthropogenic factors, 4) infer conservation scenarios that emerge from synergistic effects between projected changes in land use and global/regional climate, and 5) generate an open access geospatial platform with the current and predicted future distribution of Chilean native plant species and pollinators.

RP2 ECOSYSTEM INTEGRITY AND NCP (Nature contributions to people) We center our research on the interconnections of ecosystem integrity as the source of critical NCP. We define ecosystem integrity as the maintenance of attributes related to the functioning of ecosystems under limited or reduced human pressure. As ecosystems are increasingly modified by human activities, their integrity declines with negative consequences for NCP. We address the factors that sustain ecosystem integrity, using state of the art methodological approaches further discussed below. This associative scientific strategy allows us to examine the resilience of ecosystems, a property that provides a critical NCP, in particular regarding carbon and water storage and recovery. The products of our research answer questions and provide solutions to relevant socio-ecological problems for Chile’s development, such as the need for continuing resource supplies and water availability, as climate models predict increasingly drier and hotter conditions.

RP3 BIODIVERSITY DRIVERS We aim to predict major biodiversity changes in Andean, mediterranean and temperate plant communities in response to three interacting and critical components of global change in Chile: climate change, wildfires and biological invasions. We use different, but complementary approaches, from small to large spatial scales, from experiments to field studies and modelling, in productive and climate-extreme environments. The high diversity of Chilean ecosystems and the pronounced bioclimatic gradients allow us to study the impacts and responses to these drivers in both native and non-native species from different biomes: from Andean and Antarctic moorland to temperate forests and xeric shrublands. We work on three major drivers of biodiversity change: 1. Species vulnerability to climate change. 2. Biological invasions. 3. Associated fire, drought and invasion feedbacks.

RP4 CONSERVATION AND HUMAN WELL-BEING- RP4 focuses on cross-cutting questions that are addressed by integrating the knowledge generated by all IEB researchers, ranging from global change drivers to ecosystem functions. Our goal is to study the fundamental relationships between biodiversity, NCPs and society, to promote both sustainable human well-being and more effective conservation actions. We study the best models for effective conservation, including the co-production of socio-ecological knowledge, to face the complexity of making management decisions for biodiversity and conservation planning. We target three major needs in Chile: 1. Public policy and governance, 2. Conservation planning, 3. Co-production of knowledge.

INTEGRATIVE PROGRAMS – These programs are founded on previous successful IEB’s learning experiences. To increase the impact of our research into society, we have strengthened the RPs capacity to interact with different stakeholders, understand their specific needs and conduct research with clear societal relevance. These programs also are highly connected to the IEB units of science communication and research transfer. INP1 Information Platform for Biodiversity Data (BIODATA). The BIODATA program use IEB’s biological collections as the working platform, and it integrate data from other institutions such as museums and botanical gardens. The BIODATA program be connected to other institutional platforms such as SIMBIO (Chilean Biodiversity Information and Monitoring System) from the Ministry of the Environment. INP2 Long Term Socioecological Research Network (LTSER-Chile).  The LTSER-Chile Network is legally established to stimulate the monitoring of long-term change in ecosystems. To IEB’s three foundational sites, we added six new study sites through agreements with other institutions. Research strategies are aimed at simultaneously strengthening livelihoods at the local level, through coherent changes and the application of sustainable management practices. INP3 Biodiversity conservation in agroecosystems (BCA). Agroecosystems (including vineyards, crops and orchards) are increasingly managed for climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation; therefore, we propose concrete actions for the agriculture sector in different regions of the country. Agribusiness we currently work with include vineyards, olive oil producers, dairy production and blueberry between others We are implementing specific training activities to enhance the understanding of ecological sciences, the value of biodiversity and the cogeneration of knowledge aimed at the conservation of biodiversity useful for these agroecosystems e.g., pollinators), and the implementation of nature based solutions. INP4 Laboratory of Biological Invasions (LIB) continues its work as a leading interdisciplinary team in Latin America integrating science and management on the problem of invasive species (plants, animals, pathogens). With increasing globalization and open market policies, Chile requires integrated biosecurity to deal with invasive species. We work with the Chilean government, private companies and rural communities to address the increasing invasive species threat.

 

Investigador(a) PrincipalUniversidadLínea de InvestigaciónDatos de Contacto
Claudio Latorre HidalgoPontificia Universidad Católica de ChileRP1 Biodiversity Status and Trendsclatorre@bio.puc.cl
Eugenia Gayo HernándezUniversidad de ChileRP1 Biodiversity Status and Trendseugenia.gayo@uchile.cl
Pablo Guerrero MartinUniversidad de ConcepciónRP1 Biodiversity Status and Trendspabloguerrero@udec.cl
Patricio Pliscoff VarasUniversidad de Los AndesRP1 Biodiversity Status and Trendsppliscoff@uandes.cl
Alvaro Gutierrez IlabacaUniversidad de ChileRP2 Ecosystem Integrity and NCPsalgutier@uchile.cl
Aurora Gaxiola AlcantarPontificia Universidad Católica de ChileRP2 Ecosystem Integrity and NCPsagaxiola@bio.puc.cl
Frida Piper BusicoUniversidad de TalcaRP3 Biodiversity Driversfrida.piper@utalca.cl
Lohengrin Cavieres GonzálezUniversidad de ConcepciónRP3 Biodiversity Driverslcaviere@udec.cl
Susana Paula JuliáUniversidad Austral de ChileRP3 Biodiversity Driversspaula.julia@uach.cl
Aníbal Pauchard CortésUniversidad de ConcepciónRP4 Conservation and human well-beingpauchard@udec.cl
Cecilia Smith RamirezUniversidad de Los LagosRP4 Conservation and human well-beingcecilia.smith@ulagos.cl
Francisco Squeo PorcileUniversidad de La SerenaRP4 Conservation and human well-beingf_squeo@userena.cl
María José Martínez HarmsUniversidad Santo TomásRP4 Conservation and human well-beingmmartinez-harms@ieb-chile.cl
Olga BarbosaUniversidad Austral de ChileRP4 Conservation and human well-beingolga.barbosa@uach.cl

 

Investigador(a) Asociado(a)UnviversidadLínea de InvestígaciónDatos de Contacto
Gastón CarvalloPontificia Universidad Católica de ValparaísoRP1 Biodiversity Status and Trendsgaston.carvallo@pucv.cl
Mary T Kalin ArroyoUniversidad de ChileRP1 Biodiversity Status and Trendssouthern@uchile.cl
Paola JaraUniversidad de ChileRP1 Biodiversity Status and Trendspaolajara@uchile.cl
Rodrigo GutiérrezPontificia Universidad Católica de ChileRP1 Biodiversity Status and Trendsrgutierrez@bio.puc.cl
Constanza NapolitanoUniversidad de Los LagosRP2 Ecosystem Integrity and NCPsconstanza.napolitano@ulagos.cl
Jorge Pérez-QuezadaUniversidad de ChileRP2 Ecosystem Integrity and NCPsjorgepq@uchile.cl
Juan Luis CelisPontificia Universidad Católica de ValparaísoRP2 Ecosystem Integrity and NCPsjuan.celis@pucv.cl
María Alejandra TroncosoUniversidad de La SerenaRP2 Ecosystem Integrity and NCPsmatroncoso@userena.cl
Roberto ChávezPontificia Universidad Católica de ValparaísoRP2 Ecosystem Integrity and NCPsroberto.chavez@pucv.cl
Alex FajardoUniversidad de TalcaRP3 Biodiversity Driversalex.fajardo@utalca.cl
Darío MoreiraUniversidad de SantiagoRP3 Biodiversity Driversdario.moreira@usach.cl
Milen DuarteUniversidad Austral de ChileRP3 Biodiversity Driversmilen.duarte@uach.cl
Patricia SáezUniversidad de La FronteraRP3 Biodiversity Driverspatricia.saez@ufrontera.cl
Rafael GarcíaUniversidad de ConcepciónRP3 Biodiversity Driversragarcia.araya@gmail.com
Ramiro Bustamante ArayaUniversidad de ChileRP3 Biodiversity Driversrbustama@uchile.cl
Andrea LoayzaUniversidad de La SerenaRP4 Conservation and human well-beingaloayza@userena.cl
Cristóbal PizarroUniversidad de ConcepciónRP4 Conservation and human well-beingjpizarrop@udec.cl
Eduardo Álvarez-MirandaUniversidad de TalcaRP4 Conservation and human well-beingealvarez@utalca.cl
Rodrigo EstévezUniversidad Santo TomásRP4 Conservation and human well-beingrestevezw@santotomas.cl