Two PhD Positions in Primatology We look for two ambitious, highly motivated applicants for three-year PhD positions to work on a comparative study of the energetic aspects of brain size evolution at the Anthropological Institute and Museum (University of Zürich). In the Swiss National Foundation (SNF) project The Expensive Brain: Comparative Analyses of Variation in Relative Brain Size by K. Isler and C. van Schaik we examine brain size evolution from an energy-cost perspective. To allow an increase in brain size, either total energy metabolism must be increased, or the organism reduces energy allocation to other functions such as production, digestion or locomotion. The first PhD project will be focused on trade-offs between brain tissue and the digestive tract or other expensive organs by applying the comparative method on primates or mammals in general. You will start by compiling published quantitative data and collect complementary data from dissections of various mammalian species. The second PhD project investigates the implication of the energy-cost perspective that a populations brain size is negatively correlated with the frequency of exposure to periods of unavoidable starvation, as suggested by recent work on orangutans. In addition to a comparative analysis of published data, you will also collect endocranial capacities from primate genera or species inhabiting a broad range of habitats with documented seasonal food shortages. You will be working in an international, multidisciplinary team of primatologists and paleoanthropologists at one of Europes leading institutions in this field. Salaries rise from CHF 34000 in the first year to CHF 40000 in the third year. Interested applicants should have a strong interest in zoology and primatology, a good background in evolutionary biology, a very good academic track record, be fluent in written and spoken English and hold the equivalent of a Masters degree. Advanced skills in statistical data analysis and, for the first project, previous experience with dissections are required. Candidates should send a letter of application, a curriculum vitae, a transcript of the university diplomas, contact information for three references, and a summary of the Masters thesis (all combined to a single PDFs) to Karin Isler at [EMAIL PROTECTED] no later than October 31, 2007. Start of the project is planned for February 1, 2008.
For further information, please contact Karin Isler ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). Dr. Karin Isler Anthropologisches Institut und Museum Universität Zürich-Irchel Winterthurerstrasse 190 CH-8057 Zürich Switzerland
