The Department of Aquatic Ecology at EAWAG seeks to recruit a: PhD student in Evolutionary Ecology
The PhD student will be funded by a Swiss National Science Foundation grant, entitled “The eco-evolutionary dynamics of community assembly in aquatic ecosystems”. The aim of the project is to understand how ecological and evolutionary processes jointly drive community assembly in aquatic ecosystems. The project involves a combination large-scale experiments that manipulate the ecological and evolutionary diversity of food webs under contrasting environmental conditions, as well as the analysis of existing long-term datasets of plankton biodiversity dynamics in freshwater lakes. The project is broadly focused on aquatic food webs, including microbial, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fish communities. Ultimately, the research addresses fundamental links between the ecology and evolution of food webs and the physical environment and biogeochemistry of ecosystems. We are looking for a self-directed and motivated student with a broad interest in ecology, evolution, and/or ecosystem science. Ideally, the student will be interested in fieldwork, food-web experiments, analysis of biodiversity datasets, and molecular ecology. Eawag is an international research institute, and is closely affiliated with top universities that grant PhD degrees, such as ETH-Zurich. The working language of the department is English. We offer a stimulating research environment in the Aquatic Ecology department, which has locations in Dübendorf (near Zurich) and Kastanienbaum (near Lucerne). Located on the shores of Lake Lucerne, Eawag’s Center for Ecology, Evolution & Biogeochemistry (CEEB: http://www.eawag.ch/forschung/cc/ceeb/index_EN ) is a strong nucleus of Eawag research groups aimed at integrating evolutionary biology, community ecology, and ecosystem science. At both locations, the student will interact with a diverse range of researchers studying community ecology, evolutionary biology, ecological genetics, ecosystem science, and applied environmental science. The project will also involve collaborations between researchers at Eawag (Dr. Blake Matthews, Dr. Helmut Bürgmann) and the University of Geneva (Dr. Bas Ibelings) The starting date for the PhD student is flexible, but a starting date in 2014 is preferred. The PhD program at ETH-Zurich generally lasts three years. Applications should include a cover letter, a curriculum vita, and three references. Copies of prior publications or theses will also be considered if made available via PDF. Applications must be submitted by 15 June 2014. We look forward to receiving your application through this webpage, any other way of applying will not be considered. Please click on the link below, this will take you directly to the application form. http://internet1.refline.ch/673277/0273/++publications++/1/index.html For further information, consult: http://homepages.eawag.ch/~matthebl/Welcome.html
 or directly contact Dr. Blake Matthews: Tel: +41 58 765 2120, E-mail: [email protected]
