JOB ADVERT Job Reference ASG-DW-ETH-0005 Job Title PhD candidate : How is phenotypic variation in great tits (Parus major) maintained by sexual selection? Contact Email [email protected]
Job Advert Details PhD position We offer a PhD Position (1.0 FTE) to undertake research on sexual selection and reproductive investment in great tits within the newly established Behavioural Ecology chair group at the Animal Science Department of Wageningen University, the Netherlands. This position is financed by the WIAS graduate school of Wageningen University. It is linked to an EU funded project and comes with attractive equipment and consumables support. Research will be conducted in cooperation with the Animal Ecology Department of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW). Project details This project will investigate the potential of individual differences in mate choice and reproductive investment to maintain phenotypic variation in great tits. Great tits vary between individuals in plumage characteristics. Individual birds are expected to differ in their mate preferences and reproductive allocation in relation to their own individual characters, which may help to maintain variation within the population. The project will involve performing captive mate choice trials with wild great tits, as well as extensive fieldwork to measure reproductive investment. There is also the opportunity to complement this behavioural and phenotypic work with genetic information. We ask - Candidates must have an MSc or equivalent experience in a behavioural ecology or related fields (e.g. Animal Behaviour, Animal Ecology) - Be enthusiastic about field work - Strong experimental and analytical skills - Good organizational and (written and spoken) communication skills, and a proven ability to collaborate with others. - Willingness to conduct to organize and extensive ornithological fieldwork. - Willingness to travel internationally, to attend conferences and visit other institutes. - A driver licence and a licence to carry out experiments with vertebrates (i.e. article9 of the WoD) is desirable. We offer - Employment basis: temporary for specified period. Duration of the contract: 1 + 3 years, maximum hours per week: 38. Additional conditions of employment: To begin with, a PhD-appointment for a period of 12 months. Continuation of the appointment with another 36 months will be based on performance evaluation. Gross salary per month 2062 in the first year, rising to 2638 per month in the fourth year, based on a full time appointment. - Participation in the training program of the Graduate School Production Ecology & Resource conservation, see www.pe-rc.nl. - An excellent opportunity to develop an international scientific network. The organization The successful candidate will join the stimulating and international research environment of Wageningen University. Wageningen University is an internationally leading research and education institution, ranked among the top 25 universities in Europe (THE World University Rankings, 2011- 12). This project will be carried out in the new Behavioral Ecology Group within the Department of Animal Sciences, and will be supervised by Dr. Camilla Hinde. For further information, please contact Dr. Camilla Hinde ([email protected]). The application deadline is 15 May 2013. Links http://www.wur.nl/uk/ http://www.zod.wur.nl/UK/ For further information about working at Wageningen UR, take a look at www.jobsat.wur.nl
