Microbiomes are not just indicators of the state of their environment or the health of their host. They are ecosystems in their own right, shaped by similar forces and dynamics as those studied since the inception of scientific ecology.

This 3-day session in Microbial Community Ecology aims to

• bring together scientists (researchers, engineers...) from laboratories associated with the CLAPAS Key Initiative, working on microbial communities in diverse contexts such as animal, human and plant health and agrosystems.


• help create a common language through a morning school format, with an overview of key ideas and tools spanning community ecology (from coexistence to complex networks), general enough to apply to various microbial systems


• through an afternoon workshop format, foster new collaborations and ways of approaching data, experiments or teaching with various types of discussions and group work sessions



To apply, please fill out this form before March 31st, 2025.

See also: the previous edition (Autumn 2024) that involved 10 doctoral students.

Dates and location

Application deadline: March 31st, 2025

Dates: Sunday April 27, 17:00 to Wednesday April 30, 12:00

Location: The school will take place at the INTP campus in Surba, a small village in the French Pyrenees, accessible by train from Toulouse (nearest station : Tarascon-sur-Ariège).

All fees will be covered by the CLAPAS Key Initiative for selected applicants from associated laboratories, including tuition, accommodation and travel costs. A few applicants not associated with CLAPAS may be accepted depending on attendance, and will need to pay fees (contact us).

We offer the possibility to extend the stay on May 1 and until the weekend for several participants, though the extension will not funded by the CLAPAS initiative. Conditions and fees for the extra days will be the same as for research residencies at INTP.

Program

In this hybrid school and workshop format, there will be morning lectures targeted at working scientists, and aimed at providing a way to recontextualize their knowledge and connect it to other fields.

The focus of lectures will be to share ideas and tools that can be transferred across biomes and between traditional and microbial community ecology, so the language of models and theory will be needed in this translation, but the content is meant to be useful to observational and experimental research.

The afternoon workshop sessions will take various forms including indoors and outdoors discussions, coding and data analysis sessions, short presentations, reading clubs, etc.

Lecturers: Matthieu Barbier (CIRAD), Azenor Bideault (U Laval).

Arrival possible from Sunday 27 morning.

Sunday 27
17:00-20:00 Short research presentations by all participants

Monday 28
9:00-12:30 Lectures: Introduction + Biodiversity and coexistence theory
14:00-19:00 Working groups & discussions

Tuesday 29
9:00-12:30 Lectures: Functional roles + Ecological networks
14:00-19:00 Working groups & discussions

Wednesday 30
9:00-12:00 Lectures: Complexity, stochasticity and historicity + Conclusions
12:00-19:00 Free time & optional outdoors activities, departure

Additional activities

A local guide will offer mountaineering activities for an extra fee on Friday afternoon, either rock climbing or via ferrata, which will happen if enough participants register in advance.

Extra fees: 50 euros.

Alternatively, we will help participants plan other activities (hiking, visiting prehistoric caves or neighboring cities, etc.)