In the scope of the project FACTS (Forage Fish Interactions), funded under the FP7 European Program, we are looking for candidates for a postdoctoral position of 18 months to be based in La Rochelle, in the Joint Research Unit “Littoral ENvironnement et Sociétés, LIENSs” CNRS – La Rochelle University, in collaboration with the Instituto Español De Oceanografía. The main objective of this work will be to evaluate ecosystem-level consequences of potential shifts in distribution and abundance of the main target species of the fisheries in the Bay of Biscay, especially in relation to the conservation of the top predators of the Bay. As part of the French Programme National Environnement Côtier, a preliminary model has been established by Nathalie Niquil, gathering all information then available about pelagic compartments. The work of the postdoc will be 1) to update the available datasets and to establish appropriate spatial units for modelling, 2) to implement an end-to-end model using Ecopath with Ecosim, 3) to make a stability analysis of the food web obtained in order to establish the most sensitive compartments and processes, and 4) to run simulations of various scenarios concerning changes in environmental conditions, fish abundance and fishery legislation, with particular focus on implications for conservation of top predators. The tools available in the Ecopath with Ecosim will be complemented with other methods derived from Inverse Analysis (Kones et al 2009) and Stability Analysis (Hosack and Eldridge 2008). The main contributors will be, i) in LIENSs, Nathalie Niquil for food web modelling, and Paco Bustamante, Vincent Ridoux, Jérôme Spitz and Florence Caurant for marine mammal foraging strategies and predator-prey interactions, ii) in IEO, Miguel Bernal for fish ecology, and Begoña Santos and Graham Pierce, for marine mammal foraging strategies and predator- prey interactions. The collaborations will also involve researchers from IFREMER and other European participant to the FACTS program. We seek candidates with relevant knowledge and experience in ecosystem analysis and modelling. Candidates should ideally already possess a background in trophic network analysis and a high level of computational skills. Please send a cv, 2 recommendation letters and a motivation letter, in pdf format, to Nathalie Niquil (nniquil@univ-lr.fr) before March, 30 th . The 18 month contract will be based at La Rochelle in the LIENSs joint research unit (http://lienss.univ-larochelle.fr/) and will be funded by the FACTS project. It will begin September 1 st , 2010 and the salary will correspond to the CNRS postdoctoral level, i.e. around 2000 Euros net per month.