[dépassé] 2012_10 : Two postdoctoral research positions and a PhD studentship in evolutionary ecology

[deadline 31 October 2012]

These posts are central to a European Research Council-funded project led by Dr Jane Reid that aims to 1) build new theory explaining the evolution and persistence of polyandry and inbreeding, and 2) test this theory using >20 years of complete life-history and pedigree data from free-living song sparrows (Melospiza melodia).

1) Postdoctoral Researcher in Theoretical Evolutionary Biology – available for three years in the first instance.

Responsible for developing new (co)evolutionary theory of reproductive strategies, specifically polyandry and inbreeding, using mathematical and/or simulation modelling approaches.

2) Postdoctoral Researcher in Evolutionary Quantitative Genetics – available for three years in the first instance.

Responsible for developing and implementing quantitative genetic and phenotypic analyses of long-term pedigree and life-history data from a wild population of song sparrows, specifically looking at polyandry, inbreeding, inbreeding avoidance and fitness components in males and females.

These posts provide exciting opportunities for highly motivated postdoctoral researchers with expertise and interest in theoretical evolutionary biology and/or quantitative genetic analysis of wild population data. They will work within a successful international research team with ample opportunities for further collaboration, high-profile publication and career development, and flexibility to develop their own ideas and approaches in relation to the overall project aim.

Further details and online application forms are available at http://www.abdn.ac.uk/jobs/ (School of Biological Sciences).

PhD studentship

Project title “Extra-pair reproduction, polyandry and relatedness: population-level consequences of individual reproductive strategy in song sparrows”

The project will use long-term data from socially monogamous but genetically polyandrous song sparrows to quantify within-year and among-year variation in reproductive strategy by individual females, and to quantify the consequences of this variation for population relatedness structure and genetic variation.

It offers an exciting opportunity for a motivated student with interest in linking theoretical and field biology to work within a leading international research project. It will provide training in theoretical evolutionary ecology, statistical modelling and pedigree analyses, and opportunities for fieldwork and molecular genetic analysis according to the student’s interests.

Further details and online application forms are available at http://www.findaphd.com/

Please get in touch with Dr Jane Reid (jane.reid@abdn.ac.uk) if you have any queries about the posts or application process.

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/biologicalsci/staff/details/jane.reid