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Two new doctoral theses started in 2026 in collaboration with the Papuan Past Project

Two new doctoral theses started in January 2026 in the framework of a new scientific project, named “PAPALIM: Biological and societal impacts of the food transition in Papua New Guinea”, and in collaboration with the Papuan Past Project (PPP) team.

Clarence Douget (left) and Auxane Dilhaire (right)

The PAPALIM project is funded by the Toulouse Initiative for Research’s Impact on Society (TIRIS) for a four years period (2025-2028), and is led by Nicolas Brucato, Anne Dupuy, Francois-Xavier Ricaut, and Jean-Pierre Poulain. This project involves our scientific collaborators from Papua New Guinea, Dr Matthew Leavesley, Dr Christopher Kinipi, and Dr Alfred Kik, and is the continuation of all the research already conducted by the PPP which aims to better understand the demographic and adaptive history of Papua New Guineans through archaeological, anthropological and biological approaches.

The PAPALIM project funds two doctoral thesis at the University of Toulouse (France).

  • The first doctoral thesis, in the field of human biology, is entitled “Dynamics of Genome-Microbiome-Diet co-evolution in Oceania”, and was granted to Clarence Douguet.
  • The second doctoral thesis, in the field of Socio-Anthropology of Food, is entitled “Socio-anthropology of transitions in the social food space of Papua New Guinea”, and was granted to Auxane Dilhaire.

Summary of the PAPALIM project

Our food lies at the intersection of our biology and our society. This balance, inherited from thousands of years of co-evolution, is now undergoing a major transition due to climate change and industrialization. This transition is particularly marked in countries of the South, significantly impacting the health and social structure of these populations. Papua New Guinea (PNG) is an exceptional case, as it is one of the rare cradles of agriculture in human history. The country’s biodiversity is unique in the world and has fed, for millennia, a population of incomparable cultural and biological diversity. But today, PNG, one of the poorest countries in the world, is undergoing strong acculturation and an increase in diseases associated with malnutrition. The PAPALIM project adopts a resolutely “inter-science” approach combining the complementary expertise in human genetics and microbiology present at the CRBE (UT3), with those in nutritional anthropology and sociology present at the CERTOP (UT2). Its objectives are: (i) to explore the biological and societal interactions between PNG populations and their traditional diet; (ii) to characterize the impact of the food transition on the health and socialization of populations; (iii) to propose a biocultural synthesis of the relationships between populations and their diet, ultimately informing the country’s public health policies. The PAPALIM project is at the heart of the three thematic pillars of TIRIS, with the ambition of bringing together strong research axes present in Toulouse. Through two PhD theses, it aims to foster the emergence of a new network of multidisciplinary scientific expertise on the diets in countries in the South.

 


OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Papuan Past Project Editors (April 15, 2026). Two new doctoral theses started in 2026 in collaboration with the Papuan Past Project. Papuan Past Project. Retrieved May 13, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/162ip