PhDs: THE INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AUSTRIA (IST AUSTRIA)
The Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria) is looking for highly qualified candidates to apply for our ISTScholar PhD program. We offer fully-funded PhD positions in the natural and mathematical sciences in a world-class research environment on the outskirts of Vienna. Of particular relevance to social insect researchers is the group of Prof. Sylvia Cremer:
Sylvia Cremer and her "Social immunity" group at the IST Austria study the collective disease defences of ant societies. These include performance of hygiene behaviour towards contaminated nestmates, use of antimicrobials, and the modification of behavioural interaction networks, which together determine pathogen transmission dynamics in the society.
Evolutionary Biology at IST Austria further includes the groups of Nick Barton (Mathematical Models of Evolution, Population Genetics, Speciation and Hybridisation) and Beatriz Vicoso (Evolution of Sex Chromosomes, Bioinformatics).
Our PhD program is characterized by innovative training with a special focus on interdisciplinarity, close mentoring by outstanding faculty within small research groups, and access to first-rate facilities. Students spend the first year completing coursework and rotations before choosing a thesis group and passing the qualifying exam. Our PhD graduates have gone on to top positions in academia and industry all over the world.
Students with a bachelor's or master's degree in a relevant field are encouraged to apply. We offer internationally competitive salaries co-funded by an EU Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant, full health benefits, and subsidized on-campus housing in the first year.
For more information about the ISTScholar PhD program and application process, as well as faculty profiles, please visit our website at http://phd.ist.ac.at, or come to our Student Open Day on November 25th (register at: http://ist.ac.at/studentopenday).
The deadline for PhD applications is January 8th 2017 for a start date in September 2017.
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POSTDOC: NEURONAL BASIS OF FLYING BEE NAVIGATION, QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY LONDON
Postdoctoral Research Fellow - QMUL10311
Department: School of Biological & Chemical Sciences
Salary: £44,815 per annum
Reference: QMUL10311
Date posted: 30-Nov-2016
Closing date: 28-Dec-2016
Overview:
A Postdoctoral Research Assistant position is available at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), to undertake research on the navigation of flying bees and its neural underpinnings. This research position is offered within the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at QMUL and forms part of the project entitled 'Brains-On-Board - Neuromorphic Control of Flying Robots', a multi-university collaboration aiming to create robotic controllers that will enable autonomous robots with the navigational and learning abilities of a honeybee. It involves five research groups at the University of Sheffield, Queen Mary University of London, and the University of Sussex performing research whose goal is biomimetic robot control and which will combine the study of insect visual orientation with autonomous robotics, computational neuroscience, and accelerated neural network simulations on GPU architectures.
The work will be performed under the supervision of Prof Lars Chittka (QMUL). The work involves both laboratory work on the orientation of bees (at QMUL) as well as field work which will mostly take place at Rothamsted Research near Harpenden, North of London. The main aim of this project will be to use newly developed radar technology to track multiple pollinating bees over large distances and over extended periods, to study mechanisms of their orientation, as well as their interactions with flowers and with other pollinators. Specific tasks will include monitoring of bee behaviour using advanced tracking technology, data analysis and manuscript writing, maintenance of bee colonies, tagging bees, and the supervision of small teams of undergraduates and research technicians. Candidates should have a PhD in biology, computer science or a related discipline. Experience with the subject of bee behaviour, or computational neuroscience will be an advantage. A good record of peer-reviewed papers in the field is essential.
The position is full-time, fixed term for 24 months, with the possibility of an extension up to 5 years. The position is available from the 01/01/2017 or as soon as possible thereafter. The starting salary is £44,815 per annum depending on experience and is inclusive of London allowance. Benefits include 30 days annual leave, defined benefit pension scheme and an interest-free season ticket loan.
Candidates must be able to demonstrate their eligibility to work in the UK in accordance with the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. Where required this may include entry clearance or continued leave to remain under the Points Based Immigration Scheme.
The School holds a Silver Athena SWAN Award and is committed to Athena SWAN principles to promote women in science.
For further information about the School, please see http://www.sbcs.qmul.ac.uk
Application enquiries should be directed to recruitment@qmul.ac.uk
The closing date for applications is 28 December 2016 Interviews will be held shortly thereafter.
To apply, visit: https://webapps2.is.qmul.ac.uk/jobs/job.action?jobRef=QMUL10311
Valuing Diversity & Committed to Equality
This advertisement is an elaboration of a previous post:
(http://www.iussi.org/NWEurope/vacancies.htm#QMUL), which also includes 3 PhD positions.
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PhD: HOST-PARASITE COEVOLUTION - BUMBLE BEES AND THEIR VIRUSES, HALLE, GERMANY
A 3 year PhD position is available for a newly funded project on the evolutionary ecology of viruses in bees, funded by iDiv (www.idiv.de) and within Robert Paxton's lab at the University of Halle, Germany.
The overarching goal of the research is to understand the role of viral evolutionary change for pathogen emergence and host switching as well as host evolutionary response, with a conservation focus on rare and declining species of bumble bee. Research will involve lab and field-based experiments (in Germany) as well as molecular genetic analysis of viruses and their hosts. We seek a highly motivated individual with an interest in host-parasite coevolution and skills or a background in bioinformatics, entomological experimentation, or molecular genetic techniques. Two pre-requisites are a valid driving licence and the ability or willingness to work with bees.
The candidate will be part of iDiv's comprehensive graduate school yDiv (https://www.idiv.de/ydiv.html). The position is available for 3 years commencing April 2017 or soon thereafter. The working language of the lab is English. The neighboring group of Robin Mortiz makes for a strong profile in bee biology and genetics at the University of Halle. Halle is a delightful, historical city approximately 1.5 hours SW of Berlin and 45 minutes from Leipzig, iDiv's seat, to which Halle is connected by several trains per hour. The salary is on the standard German PhD scale of 65% E13, which translates to ca. Euro 30 K per annum.
Further details of the project can be obtained from Robert Paxton (robert.paxton@zoologie-uni-halle.de) and iDiv (https://www.idiv.de/the_centre/career/flexpool_positions.html#c4681). Applications should be sent on-line to iDiv (apply.idiv.de) by 1 January 2017. Interviews are planned for early February 2017.
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PhD: MICROBIOMES AND THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIALITY, LIVERPOOL
Evolutionary interactions between hosts, pathogens, and microbiomes across multiple origins of sociality in Hymenoptera
Project Description
Sociality produces conditions that are ideal for disease transmission: large, dense populations of closely related individuals. Paradoxically, the genomes of all social insects sequenced to date appear to have a limited immune repertoire, based on homology to Drosophila melanogaster. Is this because there are novel immune pathways in social insects that have no homology to Drosophila? Or is it that immunity in social insects relies more on their microbiome - the community of commensal bacteria they carry around with them? Either way, studies focused solely on the classical immune system are incomplete.
This studentship will use transcriptome sequencing of phylogenetically diverse samples across solitary, primitively social, and eusocial Hymenoptera, to understand the connections between eusociality and immune defense, and how the innate immune system and the microbiome evolve across multiple independent origins of sociality.
The Hymenoptera have been hugely important to our understanding of fundamental topics in evolutionary biology, including sex allocation, kin selection, and sociality. We aim to resolve longstanding questions about the connection between sociality and immune defense, and link this research to new insights concerning the role of the microbiome in health and disease. Through this we will resolve the fundamental issue of whether sociality leads to depauperate immune systems.
This project will suit a student with interests in host-parasite interaction, evolutionary ecology, genetics, bioinformatics, and genomics. Existing skills in any of those areas would be helpful but independence, curiosity, a healthy sense of humor, and a certain amount of grit are usually more important.
The successful student will have the opportunity to work closely with collaborators at Harvard University and develop skills in evolutionary ecology, host-parasite interaction, immunology, genomics, transcriptomics, and metagenomics. The Institute of Integrative Biology offers a lively community of researchers to interact with, providing many opportunities for collaboration
Funding Notes
Competitive funding of tuition fee, research costs and stipend (£14,296 tax-free, 2016-17) from the NERC Doctoral Training Partnership "Adapting to the Challenges of a Changing Environment" (ACCE, http://acce.group.shef.ac.uk/). ACCE - a collaboration between the Universities of Sheffield, Liverpool, and York - is the only dedicated ecology/evolution/conservation Doctoral Training Partnership in the UK.
Applications (CV, letter of application, 2 referees) by email to iibapply@liv.ac.uk, deadline: January 9th 2017. Interviews: 15th-17th February 2017. Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed for only one project from the ACCE partnership.
This project is also available to self-funded students. A fees bursary may be available
https://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=78293&LID=829
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PhD: WOOD ANTS ON THE MOVE: IMPACTS OF LAND-USE ON SPECIES RANGE EXPANSION, YORK
Competitively-funded: NERC ACCE DTP Studentship
Supervisors: Dr Elva Robinson, Dr Kate Parr (University of Liverpool), Dr Kevin Watts(Forest Research), Professor Justin Travis (University of Aberdeen)
We are looking for an enthusiastic and ambitious student to develop an exciting project that will combine field data, ecological modelling and stakeholder engagement to improve the management of UK woodlands for key elements of biodiversity. The ideal candidate will enjoy interacting with academics and stakeholders from a range of backgrounds and want to apply their scientific training to an important applied question.
Forestry, mainly plantations, occupies 13% of British land area. Forests offer key habitat for woodland species; however, maintaining biodiversity alongside timber production can be challenging. The fragmentation of British woodlands adds further challenges, particularly for locally dispersing habitat specialists, e.g. wood ants (Formica rufa group). These species, threatened across Europe, are key components of woodland ecosystems. Recent work indicates wood ant populations in the North York Moors are expanding from ancient woodland into plantations. This expansion could potentially defragment populations; however, these ants disperse primarily locally, making spread slow and strongly influenced by local habitat. This project will use the expanding populations to study the dynamics of movement into new habitat.
Detailed forest habitat data will be combined with ant mapping data, including 3 years' expansion at population margins. These data will be used to create and parameterise an individual based model predicting expansion patterns. New field data on further expansion will be collected and used to test prediction accuracy. The results will be used to identify the best forest management strategies (planting/ harvesting designs) to promote the dispersal of this woodland specialist. The primary focus of this project is theoretical modelling; however, there is a significant field work component.
More information and how to apply: http://www.york.ac.uk/biology/postgraduate/nercdtp/nercproject5-elvarobinson/
Deadline for applications: 9 January 2017
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PhD: HYBRIDISATION, SPECIATION AND GENETIC STRUCTURE IN A WOODLAND SPECIALIST, YORK
Fully-funded: NERC Industrial CASE partnership with Forest Research
Supervisors: Dr Elva Robinson, Dr Joan Cottrell (Forest Research) Dr Kanchon Dasmahapatra, Dr Kevin Watts (Forest Research); Project partner: Dr Jonna Kulmuni
We are looking for a committed and talented student for this exciting research. The project will combine genetic techniques, fieldwork skills, landscape analysis and stakeholder engagement to improve the management of UK woodlands for key elements of biodiversity, and set UK populations in their European context. The ideal candidate will enjoy interacting with academics and stakeholders from a range of backgrounds and want to apply their scientific training to an important applied question.
Britain's forests offer key habitat for woodland species; however, maintaining biodiversity under the demands of timber production can be challenging. The highly fragmented nature of British woodlands is a further challenge because fragmentation leads to isolation, usually reducing genetic diversity of woodland dwelling species, particularly in species with poor dispersal abilities and exacting habitat requirements such as wood ants (Formica rufa group). These species, threatened across Europe, are key components of woodland ecosystems and offer an ideal study system to explore the impact of habitat fragmentation on genetic diversity of a woodland species.
This study will clarify the conservation status of a genetically unusual wood ant population in the North York Moors (NYM) and will use wood ants to study how dispersal and habitat fragmentation influence the formation of hybrids and new species. We will do this by comparing the genetic diversity of the NYM population to samples from across the UK and Eurasia. The data will explain what creates the unusually high diversity in the NYM and allow investigation of how wood ants spread and diversified at the continental scale after the last glacial period.
More information and how to apply: http://www.york.ac.uk/biology/postgraduate/research/funding/funded-studentships/fullyfundedproject2-robinson/
Deadline for applications: 22 January 2017
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MSc: ECOLOGICAL IMPACT OF LAND-USE CHANGES - ANTS AS BIO-INDICATORS, YORK
Funding: Part funded by CSIRO, part self-funded
Background
Changes in land-management, e.g. altered grazing regimes or tree harvesting cycles can have dramatic impacts on biodiversity and ecological community function. Even more dramatic, are the changes in community structure and function when habitats devastated by human activity (e.g. open cast mining) are allowed to recover and be re-colonised. The conservation of biodiversity outside of designated nature reserves is increasingly becoming important as a conservation component for global biota. To achieve success in this, we require a detailed knowledge of how biota are affected by human land use. Because not all biota can be studied simultaneously, particularly responsive and informative taxa can be used as surrogates for all others through bioindication. Ant communities are complex, with ants playing a range of ecological roles: predators, indirect herbivores (via interactions with hemiptera), scavengers, soil movers; and occupying physical niches underground, on the ground surface, in shrubs and in mature canopy. Ants are thus particularly valuable as bioindicator taxa, and are widely used around the globe to address many conservation questions. In this study, changes in ant community composition and structure will be used as indicators for the ecological impact of land-use changes.
Objectives
1 To identify the ecological impact of a controlled grazing experiment, using ant communities as indicators
2 To assess the success of minesite rehabilitaton, using ant communities as indicators
Methodology
This project will be primarily based on analysing existing ant community data. A 10-year grazing experiment has been sampled 3 times for ants; the ant and vegetation data will be used to address objective 1. Data on ant communities from many years of minesite rehabilitaton across multiple mines are available to address objective 2. Depending on the skills and interests of the student, research could focus on just one of the objectives, but in greater depth. The project will include a funded visit to CSIRO Darwin to receive training and learn about how the data were collected.
Impact
The results of this project will be valuable in guiding land management procedures and assessing the success of ecological rehabilitation. The results produced will be valuable both academically and to the applied conservation community.
Project Partners
This project will be a collaboration between the MSc student, Dr Elva Robinson and Dr Ben Hoffman, CSIRO Darwin.
More information
To discuss suitability for the project, contact Elva Robinson (elva.robinson@york.ac.uk); details on how to apply can be found at http://www.york.ac.uk/biology/postgraduate/research/research-projects/selffundedproject1-robinson/
Deadline for applications: 26 February 2017
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MSc: POLYDOMY, FORAGING AND DOMINANCE IN THE INVASIVE GARDEN ANT, YORK
Msc by Research. Funding: Self-funded
Background
Invasive species can have dramatic effects, fundamentally altering ecosystems. Most data on mechanisms of invasion come from a few well-known damaging species; however, practical application of invasion ecology relies on detailed knowledge of a wide range of species. The proposed work will increase the data available with a new case study, the 'invasive garden ant' Lasius neglectus, a recent invader in Europe. This species can radically change the arthropod assemblage and has potential to be highly harmful. This species arrived in the UK in 2010, and I have a NERC Industrial CASE PhD student investigating the impact of this species in the field. The proposed project will complement ongoing field work, by investigating under controlled laboratory conditions the mechanisms by which Lasius neglectus achieves ecological dominance and high density foraging.
Objectives
1 To identify the mechanistic processes underlying spread into new territory by Lasius neglectus.
2 To assess the role of polydomy (dispersed nesting) in ecological dominance and high density foraging in Lasius neglectus
Methodology
This will be a laboratory-based empirical project. Laboratory colonies of L. neglectusand the native species Lasius niger will be used for experiments on mechanisms of spread into new territory, dominance and foraging. Laboratory techniques will include, when appropriate, video-recording of behaviour and radio-tagging technology.
Impact
We have produced a provisional national Risk Assessment for the potential ecological and economic risks posed by Lasius neglectus in the UK. The data from this project on mechanisms of invasion will feed into this Risk Assessment, and will be valuable both academically and to the applied conservation community.
Project Partners
Dr Elva Robinson and PhD student Phillip Buckham-Bonnett are working closely with pest controllers, conservation charities and the Non-native Species Secretariat to ensure work on Lasius neglectus has maximum impact.
More information
To discuss suitability for the project, contact Elva Robinson (elva.robinson@york.ac.uk); details on the Biology Department's MSc by Research programme and how to apply can be found at http://www.york.ac.uk/biology/postgraduate/#tab-298035-3
Deadline for applications: 26 February 2017
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MSc: COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOUR IN SOCIAL INSECT COLONIES, YORK
Msc by Research. Funding: Self-funded
Background
Social insect colonies are accomplished collective decision-makers: the actions of individuals combine to make effective decisions at the group level that are far beyond the perception of any one individual in the group. The key to understanding such 'self-organized' collective behavior lies in identifying the behavioural algorithms used by individuals. One well-studied example of collective behaviour is nest-site choice, where a social insect colony must choose a new site and relocate to it. In some social insects, such as the ant Temnothorax albipennis, scouting ants appear to use a simple threshold rule whereby a scout assesses a nest against an internal quality threshold and either accepts the nest and starts recruiting, or rejects it and continues searching. At the colony level what would then dictate whether a nest site is chosen or not, is the distribution of quality thresholds within the colony.
Objectives
1 To investigate the role that shape and development of a colony's threshold distribution has on the collective performance
2 To predict which individuals within a colony will have the most influence on collective processes under a range of ecological scenarios
Methodology
This research project will build on an existing simple model where each scouting ant is represented as an independent instantiation of a Markov process and each individual is assigned a nest quality threshold through Monte Carlo simulation. The model will be expanded to explore a wider range of threshold distribution shapes and choice contexts. The model will be parameterized from published data on house-hunting Temnothorax albipennis.
Impact
This model will not only give us a better understanding into mechanisms of colony decision making in T. albipennis but also in collectives in general. Collective behaviour is widespread in natures, and understanding it is essential to understanding the function and dynamics of animal groups. There is increasing interest currently in animal 'personalities' and this field extends to the emergent 'personalities' of collectives; understanding the relationship between individual decision behaviour and collective outcomes will help move this field forwards.
Project Partners
This project will be a collaboration between the MSc student, Dr Elva Robinson and Dr Carolina Doran, Max Plank Institute.
More information
To discuss suitability for the project, contact Elva Robinson (elva.robinson@york.ac.uk); details on the Biology Department's MSc by Research programme and how to apply can be found at http://www.york.ac.uk/biology/postgraduate/#tab-298035-3
Deadline for applications: 26 February 2017
The Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria) is looking for highly qualified candidates to apply for our ISTScholar PhD program. We offer fully-funded PhD positions in the natural and mathematical sciences in a world-class research environment on the outskirts of Vienna. Of particular relevance to social insect researchers is the group of Prof. Sylvia Cremer:
Sylvia Cremer and her "Social immunity" group at the IST Austria study the collective disease defences of ant societies. These include performance of hygiene behaviour towards contaminated nestmates, use of antimicrobials, and the modification of behavioural interaction networks, which together determine pathogen transmission dynamics in the society.
Evolutionary Biology at IST Austria further includes the groups of Nick Barton (Mathematical Models of Evolution, Population Genetics, Speciation and Hybridisation) and Beatriz Vicoso (Evolution of Sex Chromosomes, Bioinformatics).
Our PhD program is characterized by innovative training with a special focus on interdisciplinarity, close mentoring by outstanding faculty within small research groups, and access to first-rate facilities. Students spend the first year completing coursework and rotations before choosing a thesis group and passing the qualifying exam. Our PhD graduates have gone on to top positions in academia and industry all over the world.
Students with a bachelor's or master's degree in a relevant field are encouraged to apply. We offer internationally competitive salaries co-funded by an EU Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant, full health benefits, and subsidized on-campus housing in the first year.
For more information about the ISTScholar PhD program and application process, as well as faculty profiles, please visit our website at http://phd.ist.ac.at, or come to our Student Open Day on November 25th (register at: http://ist.ac.at/studentopenday).
The deadline for PhD applications is January 8th 2017 for a start date in September 2017.
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POSTDOC: NEURONAL BASIS OF FLYING BEE NAVIGATION, QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY LONDON
Postdoctoral Research Fellow - QMUL10311
Department: School of Biological & Chemical Sciences
Salary: £44,815 per annum
Reference: QMUL10311
Date posted: 30-Nov-2016
Closing date: 28-Dec-2016
Overview:
A Postdoctoral Research Assistant position is available at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), to undertake research on the navigation of flying bees and its neural underpinnings. This research position is offered within the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at QMUL and forms part of the project entitled 'Brains-On-Board - Neuromorphic Control of Flying Robots', a multi-university collaboration aiming to create robotic controllers that will enable autonomous robots with the navigational and learning abilities of a honeybee. It involves five research groups at the University of Sheffield, Queen Mary University of London, and the University of Sussex performing research whose goal is biomimetic robot control and which will combine the study of insect visual orientation with autonomous robotics, computational neuroscience, and accelerated neural network simulations on GPU architectures.
The work will be performed under the supervision of Prof Lars Chittka (QMUL). The work involves both laboratory work on the orientation of bees (at QMUL) as well as field work which will mostly take place at Rothamsted Research near Harpenden, North of London. The main aim of this project will be to use newly developed radar technology to track multiple pollinating bees over large distances and over extended periods, to study mechanisms of their orientation, as well as their interactions with flowers and with other pollinators. Specific tasks will include monitoring of bee behaviour using advanced tracking technology, data analysis and manuscript writing, maintenance of bee colonies, tagging bees, and the supervision of small teams of undergraduates and research technicians. Candidates should have a PhD in biology, computer science or a related discipline. Experience with the subject of bee behaviour, or computational neuroscience will be an advantage. A good record of peer-reviewed papers in the field is essential.
The position is full-time, fixed term for 24 months, with the possibility of an extension up to 5 years. The position is available from the 01/01/2017 or as soon as possible thereafter. The starting salary is £44,815 per annum depending on experience and is inclusive of London allowance. Benefits include 30 days annual leave, defined benefit pension scheme and an interest-free season ticket loan.
Candidates must be able to demonstrate their eligibility to work in the UK in accordance with the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006. Where required this may include entry clearance or continued leave to remain under the Points Based Immigration Scheme.
The School holds a Silver Athena SWAN Award and is committed to Athena SWAN principles to promote women in science.
For further information about the School, please see http://www.sbcs.qmul.ac.uk
Application enquiries should be directed to recruitment@qmul.ac.uk
The closing date for applications is 28 December 2016 Interviews will be held shortly thereafter.
To apply, visit: https://webapps2.is.qmul.ac.uk/jobs/job.action?jobRef=QMUL10311
Valuing Diversity & Committed to Equality
This advertisement is an elaboration of a previous post:
(http://www.iussi.org/NWEurope/vacancies.htm#QMUL), which also includes 3 PhD positions.
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PhD: HOST-PARASITE COEVOLUTION - BUMBLE BEES AND THEIR VIRUSES, HALLE, GERMANY
A 3 year PhD position is available for a newly funded project on the evolutionary ecology of viruses in bees, funded by iDiv (www.idiv.de) and within Robert Paxton's lab at the University of Halle, Germany.
The overarching goal of the research is to understand the role of viral evolutionary change for pathogen emergence and host switching as well as host evolutionary response, with a conservation focus on rare and declining species of bumble bee. Research will involve lab and field-based experiments (in Germany) as well as molecular genetic analysis of viruses and their hosts. We seek a highly motivated individual with an interest in host-parasite coevolution and skills or a background in bioinformatics, entomological experimentation, or molecular genetic techniques. Two pre-requisites are a valid driving licence and the ability or willingness to work with bees.
The candidate will be part of iDiv's comprehensive graduate school yDiv (https://www.idiv.de/ydiv.html). The position is available for 3 years commencing April 2017 or soon thereafter. The working language of the lab is English. The neighboring group of Robin Mortiz makes for a strong profile in bee biology and genetics at the University of Halle. Halle is a delightful, historical city approximately 1.5 hours SW of Berlin and 45 minutes from Leipzig, iDiv's seat, to which Halle is connected by several trains per hour. The salary is on the standard German PhD scale of 65% E13, which translates to ca. Euro 30 K per annum.
Further details of the project can be obtained from Robert Paxton (robert.paxton@zoologie-uni-halle.de) and iDiv (https://www.idiv.de/the_centre/career/flexpool_positions.html#c4681). Applications should be sent on-line to iDiv (apply.idiv.de) by 1 January 2017. Interviews are planned for early February 2017.
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PhD: MICROBIOMES AND THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIALITY, LIVERPOOL
Evolutionary interactions between hosts, pathogens, and microbiomes across multiple origins of sociality in Hymenoptera
Project Description
Sociality produces conditions that are ideal for disease transmission: large, dense populations of closely related individuals. Paradoxically, the genomes of all social insects sequenced to date appear to have a limited immune repertoire, based on homology to Drosophila melanogaster. Is this because there are novel immune pathways in social insects that have no homology to Drosophila? Or is it that immunity in social insects relies more on their microbiome - the community of commensal bacteria they carry around with them? Either way, studies focused solely on the classical immune system are incomplete.
This studentship will use transcriptome sequencing of phylogenetically diverse samples across solitary, primitively social, and eusocial Hymenoptera, to understand the connections between eusociality and immune defense, and how the innate immune system and the microbiome evolve across multiple independent origins of sociality.
The Hymenoptera have been hugely important to our understanding of fundamental topics in evolutionary biology, including sex allocation, kin selection, and sociality. We aim to resolve longstanding questions about the connection between sociality and immune defense, and link this research to new insights concerning the role of the microbiome in health and disease. Through this we will resolve the fundamental issue of whether sociality leads to depauperate immune systems.
This project will suit a student with interests in host-parasite interaction, evolutionary ecology, genetics, bioinformatics, and genomics. Existing skills in any of those areas would be helpful but independence, curiosity, a healthy sense of humor, and a certain amount of grit are usually more important.
The successful student will have the opportunity to work closely with collaborators at Harvard University and develop skills in evolutionary ecology, host-parasite interaction, immunology, genomics, transcriptomics, and metagenomics. The Institute of Integrative Biology offers a lively community of researchers to interact with, providing many opportunities for collaboration
Funding Notes
Competitive funding of tuition fee, research costs and stipend (£14,296 tax-free, 2016-17) from the NERC Doctoral Training Partnership "Adapting to the Challenges of a Changing Environment" (ACCE, http://acce.group.shef.ac.uk/). ACCE - a collaboration between the Universities of Sheffield, Liverpool, and York - is the only dedicated ecology/evolution/conservation Doctoral Training Partnership in the UK.
Applications (CV, letter of application, 2 referees) by email to iibapply@liv.ac.uk, deadline: January 9th 2017. Interviews: 15th-17th February 2017. Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed for only one project from the ACCE partnership.
This project is also available to self-funded students. A fees bursary may be available
https://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=78293&LID=829
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PhD: WOOD ANTS ON THE MOVE: IMPACTS OF LAND-USE ON SPECIES RANGE EXPANSION, YORK
Competitively-funded: NERC ACCE DTP Studentship
Supervisors: Dr Elva Robinson, Dr Kate Parr (University of Liverpool), Dr Kevin Watts(Forest Research), Professor Justin Travis (University of Aberdeen)
We are looking for an enthusiastic and ambitious student to develop an exciting project that will combine field data, ecological modelling and stakeholder engagement to improve the management of UK woodlands for key elements of biodiversity. The ideal candidate will enjoy interacting with academics and stakeholders from a range of backgrounds and want to apply their scientific training to an important applied question.
Forestry, mainly plantations, occupies 13% of British land area. Forests offer key habitat for woodland species; however, maintaining biodiversity alongside timber production can be challenging. The fragmentation of British woodlands adds further challenges, particularly for locally dispersing habitat specialists, e.g. wood ants (Formica rufa group). These species, threatened across Europe, are key components of woodland ecosystems. Recent work indicates wood ant populations in the North York Moors are expanding from ancient woodland into plantations. This expansion could potentially defragment populations; however, these ants disperse primarily locally, making spread slow and strongly influenced by local habitat. This project will use the expanding populations to study the dynamics of movement into new habitat.
Detailed forest habitat data will be combined with ant mapping data, including 3 years' expansion at population margins. These data will be used to create and parameterise an individual based model predicting expansion patterns. New field data on further expansion will be collected and used to test prediction accuracy. The results will be used to identify the best forest management strategies (planting/ harvesting designs) to promote the dispersal of this woodland specialist. The primary focus of this project is theoretical modelling; however, there is a significant field work component.
More information and how to apply: http://www.york.ac.uk/biology/postgraduate/nercdtp/nercproject5-elvarobinson/
Deadline for applications: 9 January 2017
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PhD: HYBRIDISATION, SPECIATION AND GENETIC STRUCTURE IN A WOODLAND SPECIALIST, YORK
Fully-funded: NERC Industrial CASE partnership with Forest Research
Supervisors: Dr Elva Robinson, Dr Joan Cottrell (Forest Research) Dr Kanchon Dasmahapatra, Dr Kevin Watts (Forest Research); Project partner: Dr Jonna Kulmuni
We are looking for a committed and talented student for this exciting research. The project will combine genetic techniques, fieldwork skills, landscape analysis and stakeholder engagement to improve the management of UK woodlands for key elements of biodiversity, and set UK populations in their European context. The ideal candidate will enjoy interacting with academics and stakeholders from a range of backgrounds and want to apply their scientific training to an important applied question.
Britain's forests offer key habitat for woodland species; however, maintaining biodiversity under the demands of timber production can be challenging. The highly fragmented nature of British woodlands is a further challenge because fragmentation leads to isolation, usually reducing genetic diversity of woodland dwelling species, particularly in species with poor dispersal abilities and exacting habitat requirements such as wood ants (Formica rufa group). These species, threatened across Europe, are key components of woodland ecosystems and offer an ideal study system to explore the impact of habitat fragmentation on genetic diversity of a woodland species.
This study will clarify the conservation status of a genetically unusual wood ant population in the North York Moors (NYM) and will use wood ants to study how dispersal and habitat fragmentation influence the formation of hybrids and new species. We will do this by comparing the genetic diversity of the NYM population to samples from across the UK and Eurasia. The data will explain what creates the unusually high diversity in the NYM and allow investigation of how wood ants spread and diversified at the continental scale after the last glacial period.
More information and how to apply: http://www.york.ac.uk/biology/postgraduate/research/funding/funded-studentships/fullyfundedproject2-robinson/
Deadline for applications: 22 January 2017
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MSc: ECOLOGICAL IMPACT OF LAND-USE CHANGES - ANTS AS BIO-INDICATORS, YORK
Funding: Part funded by CSIRO, part self-funded
Background
Changes in land-management, e.g. altered grazing regimes or tree harvesting cycles can have dramatic impacts on biodiversity and ecological community function. Even more dramatic, are the changes in community structure and function when habitats devastated by human activity (e.g. open cast mining) are allowed to recover and be re-colonised. The conservation of biodiversity outside of designated nature reserves is increasingly becoming important as a conservation component for global biota. To achieve success in this, we require a detailed knowledge of how biota are affected by human land use. Because not all biota can be studied simultaneously, particularly responsive and informative taxa can be used as surrogates for all others through bioindication. Ant communities are complex, with ants playing a range of ecological roles: predators, indirect herbivores (via interactions with hemiptera), scavengers, soil movers; and occupying physical niches underground, on the ground surface, in shrubs and in mature canopy. Ants are thus particularly valuable as bioindicator taxa, and are widely used around the globe to address many conservation questions. In this study, changes in ant community composition and structure will be used as indicators for the ecological impact of land-use changes.
Objectives
1 To identify the ecological impact of a controlled grazing experiment, using ant communities as indicators
2 To assess the success of minesite rehabilitaton, using ant communities as indicators
Methodology
This project will be primarily based on analysing existing ant community data. A 10-year grazing experiment has been sampled 3 times for ants; the ant and vegetation data will be used to address objective 1. Data on ant communities from many years of minesite rehabilitaton across multiple mines are available to address objective 2. Depending on the skills and interests of the student, research could focus on just one of the objectives, but in greater depth. The project will include a funded visit to CSIRO Darwin to receive training and learn about how the data were collected.
Impact
The results of this project will be valuable in guiding land management procedures and assessing the success of ecological rehabilitation. The results produced will be valuable both academically and to the applied conservation community.
Project Partners
This project will be a collaboration between the MSc student, Dr Elva Robinson and Dr Ben Hoffman, CSIRO Darwin.
More information
To discuss suitability for the project, contact Elva Robinson (elva.robinson@york.ac.uk); details on how to apply can be found at http://www.york.ac.uk/biology/postgraduate/research/research-projects/selffundedproject1-robinson/
Deadline for applications: 26 February 2017
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MSc: POLYDOMY, FORAGING AND DOMINANCE IN THE INVASIVE GARDEN ANT, YORK
Msc by Research. Funding: Self-funded
Background
Invasive species can have dramatic effects, fundamentally altering ecosystems. Most data on mechanisms of invasion come from a few well-known damaging species; however, practical application of invasion ecology relies on detailed knowledge of a wide range of species. The proposed work will increase the data available with a new case study, the 'invasive garden ant' Lasius neglectus, a recent invader in Europe. This species can radically change the arthropod assemblage and has potential to be highly harmful. This species arrived in the UK in 2010, and I have a NERC Industrial CASE PhD student investigating the impact of this species in the field. The proposed project will complement ongoing field work, by investigating under controlled laboratory conditions the mechanisms by which Lasius neglectus achieves ecological dominance and high density foraging.
Objectives
1 To identify the mechanistic processes underlying spread into new territory by Lasius neglectus.
2 To assess the role of polydomy (dispersed nesting) in ecological dominance and high density foraging in Lasius neglectus
Methodology
This will be a laboratory-based empirical project. Laboratory colonies of L. neglectusand the native species Lasius niger will be used for experiments on mechanisms of spread into new territory, dominance and foraging. Laboratory techniques will include, when appropriate, video-recording of behaviour and radio-tagging technology.
Impact
We have produced a provisional national Risk Assessment for the potential ecological and economic risks posed by Lasius neglectus in the UK. The data from this project on mechanisms of invasion will feed into this Risk Assessment, and will be valuable both academically and to the applied conservation community.
Project Partners
Dr Elva Robinson and PhD student Phillip Buckham-Bonnett are working closely with pest controllers, conservation charities and the Non-native Species Secretariat to ensure work on Lasius neglectus has maximum impact.
More information
To discuss suitability for the project, contact Elva Robinson (elva.robinson@york.ac.uk); details on the Biology Department's MSc by Research programme and how to apply can be found at http://www.york.ac.uk/biology/postgraduate/#tab-298035-3
Deadline for applications: 26 February 2017
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MSc: COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOUR IN SOCIAL INSECT COLONIES, YORK
Msc by Research. Funding: Self-funded
Background
Social insect colonies are accomplished collective decision-makers: the actions of individuals combine to make effective decisions at the group level that are far beyond the perception of any one individual in the group. The key to understanding such 'self-organized' collective behavior lies in identifying the behavioural algorithms used by individuals. One well-studied example of collective behaviour is nest-site choice, where a social insect colony must choose a new site and relocate to it. In some social insects, such as the ant Temnothorax albipennis, scouting ants appear to use a simple threshold rule whereby a scout assesses a nest against an internal quality threshold and either accepts the nest and starts recruiting, or rejects it and continues searching. At the colony level what would then dictate whether a nest site is chosen or not, is the distribution of quality thresholds within the colony.
Objectives
1 To investigate the role that shape and development of a colony's threshold distribution has on the collective performance
2 To predict which individuals within a colony will have the most influence on collective processes under a range of ecological scenarios
Methodology
This research project will build on an existing simple model where each scouting ant is represented as an independent instantiation of a Markov process and each individual is assigned a nest quality threshold through Monte Carlo simulation. The model will be expanded to explore a wider range of threshold distribution shapes and choice contexts. The model will be parameterized from published data on house-hunting Temnothorax albipennis.
Impact
This model will not only give us a better understanding into mechanisms of colony decision making in T. albipennis but also in collectives in general. Collective behaviour is widespread in natures, and understanding it is essential to understanding the function and dynamics of animal groups. There is increasing interest currently in animal 'personalities' and this field extends to the emergent 'personalities' of collectives; understanding the relationship between individual decision behaviour and collective outcomes will help move this field forwards.
Project Partners
This project will be a collaboration between the MSc student, Dr Elva Robinson and Dr Carolina Doran, Max Plank Institute.
More information
To discuss suitability for the project, contact Elva Robinson (elva.robinson@york.ac.uk); details on the Biology Department's MSc by Research programme and how to apply can be found at http://www.york.ac.uk/biology/postgraduate/#tab-298035-3
Deadline for applications: 26 February 2017
