The post-doctoral fellowship programs Ramón y Cajal (five year fellowships) and Juan de la Cierva (three year fellowships) have launched a new call for proposals. The Department of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology at the Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (EEZA-CSIC) welcomes candidates interested in pursuing work on any of the research lines described below.
Details of the call (unfortunately in Spanish) can be found at http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2010/02/09/pdfs/BOE-A-2010-2154.pdf If you are interested in applying for a Ramón y Cajal or Juan de la Cierva fellowship at the EEZA, please contact us as soon as possible. Studies of colouration in reptiles. Evaluation of the different hypotheses on the function of body colour: relationship with predation, thermoregulation, social interactions and reproduction. Changes in colouration through ontogenetic development and implications of the behaviour and ecology of the species. Proximal causes of colouration: hormones and pigments or structures responsible for colour. Effect of ecological traits and phylogeny on colouration: comparative studies among species and populations. Contact: Javier Cuervo [email protected] http://www.eeza.csic.es/eeza/personales/jcuervo.aspx Conservation of endangered ungulate species Research focuses on the relationship between parental investment and breeding systems, host-parasite interactions in different environments and implications of inbreeding for the conservation of endangered species. The populations of North African ungulate species kept at the PRFS (http://www.eeza.csic.es/eeza/parque.aspx) for the captive-breeding programs, as well as the infrastructures and information accumulated in the studbooks provide excellent research opportunities. Contact: Eulalia Moreno [email protected] http://www.eeza.csic.es/eeza/personales/emoreno.aspx Arthropod Ecology Our group studies arthropod ecology in a wide sense. From evolutionary and behavioural ecology to food web ecology and ecosystem processes. We are currently trying to contribute to the ongoing link between evolutionary biology and community ecology, working on a new hypothesis for diversity gradients and how trait variation affects food web dynamics. Contact: Jordi Moya-Laraño [email protected] http://www.unioviedo.es/icab/jordi.html Pollination ecology Our group focuses on how the foraging strategies of pollinators affect plant-pollinator networks at the evolutionary and ecological time scales. We use theoretical and experimental approaches and study functional and mechanistic aspects of plant-pollinator interactions. Contact: Miguel A. Rodríguez-Gironés [email protected] http://www.eeza.csic.es/eeza/personales/rgirones.aspx Interactions between bacteria and birds We focus on: Costs and benefits of symbiotic interactions; factors affecting variability of the bacterial communities associated with birds (feathers, eggs and europygial gland); mutualistic relationship between hoopoes (Upupa epops) and mutualistic bacteria living in its europygial gland. Contact: Juan Soler [email protected] http://www.eeza.csic.es/eeza/personales/jsoler.aspx Host-parasite interactions Evolution and ecology of host-parasite interactions, with special emphasis on parasite speciation processes and proximate mechanisms regulating host- parasite interactions (host health and immune system, social and environmental factors). Contact: Francisco Valera [email protected] http://www.eeza.csic.es/eeza/personales/pvalera.aspx Best wishes, Jordi Moya-Laraño
