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We are looking for talented and motivated researchers to join the INTRASEAM project — INTegRAting SEx in sustainable ocean mAnagement and observing systems for biodiversity conservation of the Mediterranean Sea. (Abstract below)
INTRASEAM is a five-year advanced grant project funded by the Italian Fund for Science through an ERC-type scheme, led by Dr. Elena Gissi, Senior Scientist at the Italian National Research Council (CNR-ISMAR), Venice, Italy.
We are recruiting for 3 Post-doctoral positions and 3 PhD projects at the intersection of marine ecology, conservation policy, spatial modelling, and data science — all united by a pioneering focus on integrating biological sex into ocean management and biodiversity conservation.
Why join INTRASEAM? You will be part of an enthusiastic, multidisciplinary team of PhD students, early-career researchers, and established scientists at CNR-ISMAR in Venice — working on cutting-edge questions at the frontier of marine science and sustainability. Good teamwork and communication skills in English are essential.
For Post-doc enquiries: elena.gissi@cnr.it
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POST-DOCTORAL POSITIONS(CNR-ISMAR,Venice)
Post–doc 1 (two years): The research aims at analyzing the readiness of existing conservation policies, management regimes, and actions to sex-specific differences of species and habitats of conservation concern. Work to be developed on policy analysis co-built with conservation managers needs to be tackled by a researcher at the interface between ecology and social sciences generally, and in ocean policy, geography and environmental management in particular, with a strong emphasis in marine conservation biology.
Post–doc 2 (two years): The research aims at understanding sex-based spatial variability and sexual segregation driven by climate-induced change of key species by modeling habitat suitability and functional diversity for ecosystem services. We search for an experienced researcher with expertise on species distribution and niche modelling and geospatial analysis. Here, baseline knowledge on marine biology and ecology is required, ideally with a strong emphasis on environmental management and specific expertise on Mediterranean habitats of conservation concern, fish species, or cetaceans.
Post–doc 3 (three years): The research aims at ensuring the transferability of sex-specific approaches to other contexts and to the variety of conservation management problems. To do so, the researcher will work for making sex-specific data and knowledge available by designing a sex-specific data interoperable service. The researcher should be experienced in information technology for environmental sciences, data science and biostatistics to work on biodiversity data analysis, designing the knowledge catalogue and the sex-specific data interoperable service.
Contract type depends on the candidate’s experience. If you do not hold a PhD but have some relevant experience and are passionate about the research, you are still welcome to get in touch! Please contact elena.gissi@cnr.it
PhD PROJECTS – University of Padua (funded by INTRASEAM)
Three PhD positions in Biosciences curriculum are open at the University of Padua, 42nd cycle:
• PhD #1 – “The dimension of biological sex in sustainable ocean management: policy and action”
• PhD #2 – “Sexual segregation of multiple species for effective conservation planning”
• PhD #3 – “Integrating biological sex in environmental assessment for ocean sustainability”
Application deadline: May 20, 2026, at 13:00 CET
Full descriptions and application: https://www.unipd.it/dottorato/dottorati-42-ciclo
INTRASEAM – ABSTRACT
Ocean managers are actively working to manage human uses and set effective conservation actions to protect the environment. Climate-smart solutions for reversing biodiversity loss rely on knowledge of how marine organisms, populations, and communities respond to climate change. A fundamental, but often overlooked biological characteristic of organisms is sex. Sex-specific responses to climate change have been documented for marine organisms across a broad range of ecosystems and taxa. However, any effort to protect species and habitats can fail if we do not consider sex- specific effects of our actions on male, female, and hermaphrodite organisms. Recognizing and addressing these issues is crucial for ensuring long-term ocean health and supporting ecosystem service provisioning.
With INTRASEAM, I propose a novel approach to sustainable ocean management by integrating knowledge of sex-specific biological processes and adapting management strategies to climate-induced changes affecting them. I will combine sex-specific policy analysis, habitat and niche modeling, marine spatial prioritization, and sex-specific cumulative effects assessment to elaborate a portfolio of management measures for sex-sensitive sustainable ocean management. This novel sex-specific approach to conservation problems will produce an innovative understanding of the effectiveness of conservation actions on population and ecosystem dynamics to boost ecosystem service provision. It will also advance climate-smart solutions for adaptation and mitigation in biodiversity conservation by integrating sex as an Essential Ocean Variable in global ocean observing systems.
INTRASEAM will co-produce useful and usable sex-specific knowledge with managers and experts to innovative ocean observing systems and ocean management to achieve sustainability, addressing cultural bias that hamper the application of sex analysis in management practice. The innovative approach of INTRASEAM will be tested in the Northern Mediterranean Sea, and specifically to the Italian Maritime Spatial Planning initiatives. The transferability and impact of INTRASEAM will be granted by nesting the engagement, capacity building and educational activities, and the interoperable data service in the Italian National Biodiversity Gateway.
What is FIS3?
INTRASEAM is a project funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) under the third edition of FIS — Fondo Italiano per la Scienza (Italian Fund for Science) — with a budget of €1.76 million, starting on May 15, 2026 (duration: 5 years). The main objective of FIS is to promote the development of fundamental research in accordance with established European practices, modelled on the European Research Council (ERC). In line with this, the Italian Ministerial Decree 919/2022 formally recognises FIS projects as “highly qualified research programs” funded by the MUR, placing them on equal footing with ERC grants.
