6 PhD / postdoc positions available on eco-evolutionary assembly of ecological communities
At the Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, there are 6 vacancies for PhD students and/or postdocs, as part of the research program “On the origin of species assemblages” which is funded by a VICI grant awarded to Prof. Rampal S. Etienne. CONTENT This program aims to develop a fully stochastic, dynamical, eco-evolutionary and data-friendly theory of community assembly, and testing and informing this theory with model-oriented experiments and field studies of both macro- organisms and micro-organisms. The theory will contain models of speciation, extinction, immigration, and evolutionary change that vary in spatial, phylogenetic and biotic complexity, and will be designed for confrontation with data. The models include but are not limited to birth-death models, individual-based simulation models, and models of adaptive dynamics. New modelling directions are encouraged. The evolutionary experiments will involve the mite Tetranychus urticae (in collaboration with Dries Bonte at the University of Ghent, Belgium) and the bacterium Escherichia coli (in collaboration with Joana Falcao Salles at the University of Groningen) which are ideal model organisms due to their short generation times. The experiments will provide insight into how diversity affects diversification, a great unknown in current macro-evolutionary theory. The theory will be applied to naturally occurring microlandsnails in South- East Asia (in collaboration with Menno Schilthuizen at Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands), and micro-organisms in geothermal pools in New Zealand (in collaboration with Gavin Lear at the University of Auckland, New Zealand). As a general outline, for the theoretical part, both potential PhD students and postdocs can apply. The mite and microsnail projects will each require a PhD student, the E. coli and geothermal pool projects together will require a postdoc. However, candidates who are willing and able to handle a combination of theoretical and empirical work are particularly encouraged to apply. PROFILE OF CANDIDATE The candidates should - hold an MSc degree in ecology or evolutionary biology, or an MSc degree in mathematics or physics with experience/interest in applications to biology - be willing to work in a multidisciplinary team - have good communication skills in English (speaking and writing) INFORMATION AND APPLICATION More information can be requested from Prof. Rampal Etienne ([email protected]). Applications can be sent to the same address and should contain: - Motivation letter (max. one page) - Up-to-date CV - List of study grades - Names of two references Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications will be considered until the positions are filled.
