The Conceptual Biology and Medicine Team (University of Bordeaux & CNRS, France) is opening several PhD and PostDoc positions. The aim of our team is to foster collaborations between philosophers, scientists and medical doctors in order to intervene in the biological and biomedical sciences by formulating concrete scientific proposals.
Requirements
We are looking for candidates for three different projects. PhD candidates should hold a master’s degree, and PostDoc candidates should hold a PhD in a relevant field as specified in the project descriptions below. Successful candidates will be involved in designing an innovative framework to address important conceptual problems, in collaboration with an international team of philosophers and biologists. Knowledge of French is not required.
Project 1 (PhD and/or PostDoc): Measuring aging
How can we measure the progression of aging (if at all)? The candidate will be required to apply developments in measurement theory and philosophy of measurement to the problem of measuring aging that has recently emerged in the biology of aging. Indeed, measuring the progression of aging is necessary to determine whether medical interventions might have a protective effect against aging in general, rather than against specific age-related diseases. However, this is difficult to establish because there is no agreed construct of aging in biology (eliciting a problem of definition), because it is unclear what a “rate of aging” should be and whether there is indeed such a plasticity of aging, and because local measurements of the deterioration of organs or functions may or may not have something in common that should lead to a unified measurement of aging of the whole organism. The candidate may be a philosopher of biology or a biologist.
Project 2 (PhD and/or PostDoc): The conditions of cancer across the tree of life
This project co-led by an evolutionary ecologist (Mathieu Giraudeau, La Rochelle), a geneticist (Bertrand Daignan-Fornier, Bordeaux) and a philosopher of biology (Thomas Pradeu, Bordeaux) proposes to go beyond the traditional anthropocentric and mammal-centric view of cancer by exploring both the phenomenon of cancer and cancer resistance mechanisms across many species, including plants and invertebrates. The exploration of species that make cancer and species that do not make cancer, especially among invertebrates, will allow us to identify the necessary conditions for developing cancer and, in turn, these conditions will serve as a basis for formulating novel experimental and therapeutic hypotheses. Both philosophers of biology and conceptually and theoretically-inclined biologists (especially if they have expertise in invertebrate biology, cancer biology, evolutionary biology, and/or evolutionary ecology) are welcome to apply.
Project 3 (PhD): What is a cell type?
Recently, new insights into cellular plasticity and the development of new experimental and computational tools have challenged established ways of classifying cells into cell types, and the very meaning of “cell type” has suddenly become an urgent and controversial issue affecting many areas of biology. This project argues that recent debates about cell types raise fundamental philosophical questions about the role of classifications in biology, but also about the nature of biological functions and the very notion of multicellularity. The PhD student will work on a conceptual clarification of the notion of “cell type” based both on an awareness of the historical context and on direct collaboration with biologists and bioinformaticians. We are looking for a candidate with a background in philosophy and/or history of biology, or a biologist with a strong interest in philosophical problems. The position is part of the ANR project CELLTYPE under the direction of Fridolin Gross.
The team
Our team is part of ImmunoConcept, a research laboratory on the campus of the University of Bordeaux, with many collaborations with other scientists in various fields in Bordeaux and beyond. At the same time, we lead the international PhilInBioMed network, dedicated to the collaboration between philosophers and scientists. The network organizes numerous events, including an annual summer school (in Bordeaux) and workshops and conferences in different locations. PhD students and postdocs from Bordeaux will benefit from this unique network and will be supported to present their work at international conferences.
Application and contact
Applications and any questions about the call should be directed at:
mael.lemoine@u-bordeaux.fr
fridolin.gross@u-bordeaux.fr
thomas.pradeu@u-bordeaux.fr
It is possible to apply for more than one position. Interested candidates should send a CV and a letter describing their motivation to work on one or more of the projects. The anticipated start date is October 1st, 2024. The PhD positions run for 36 months, the PostDoc positions run for 36 months (project 1) and 24 months (project 2).
Deadline for application is April 1st, 2024.
