Two PhD Studentships are available to work on the project:
Do entomopathogenic fungi drive arthropod diversity gradients via host negative density dependence?
Two highly motivated postgraduate students are sought to join a project exploring interactions between entomopathogenic fungi and arthropods in tropical forests. We hypothesise that host-specific entomopathogenic fungi reduce the chance that any single arthropod species can become highly abundant, hence maintaining arthropod diversity. We will explore whether this mechanism can contribute to explaining arthropod diversity patterns across the arthropod phylogeny, and in relation to elevation, anthropogenic habitat disturbance, and future climate change. We envisage that one student will focus on elevation and climate change, and the other on anthropogenic habitat change. Students will conduct field sampling for fungus-infected arthropods and assess arthropod population sizes, experimental eradications of fungi in the wild, experimental exploration of climate impacts in the laboratory, molecular identification of arthropods and fungi in the lab, and statistical analysis of results, including incorporation of fungus-arthropod network data into the LifeWebs database (www.lifewebs.net). There will also be opportunities to develop the project in a direction of the students’ own choosing. Duties will include spending extensive periods of time in the field in Malaysian Borneo.
The successful applicants will join the Ant Research Group (http://antscience.com/) at the Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre Academy of Sciences, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, under the supervision of Tom Fayle (http://www.tomfayle.com/index.htm), Shuang Xing (https://xingshuang.weebly.com/about.html), and Vojtech Novotny (department web). The laboratory is a dynamic, multinational group studying ant ecology, evolution and biogeography, and is embedded within the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, a world-class centre for interaction network research with regular publications in Science, Nature and other leading journals. The research facility is in Ceske Budejovice, a charming historical city in the south of the country, within easy reach of Prague and Vienna.
The deadline for applications is January 15th 2021, with an expected start date of April 1st 2021 (negotiable). The students will receive a scholarship from the University of South Bohemia and employment on an ongoing grant from the Czech Science Foundation for the 4-year PhD course, sufficient to cover living expenses in Czech Republic. Applicants from all countries are eligible.
Required
• A master’s degree (non-negotiable requirement for PhD study in Czech Republic).
• Interest in the ecology of fungi and/or insects (particularly ants, which are likely to make up the majority of sampled and infected arthropods).
• 1st or upper second (2.1) undergraduate degree in ecology or related subject (or equivalent: https://tinyurl.com/y2kcw2c8)
• Enthusiasm for working in the field for extended periods of time in challenging conditions in tropical rain forest.
• Ability to work independently, manage small teams of assistants, and collaborate with other team members.
• Fluency in spoken and written English.
• Experience in the use of ecological statistical analyses.
Desirable
• Previous experience of tropical field work.
• Research experience with fungus or insect ecology.
• Experience with basic ecological molecular lab work relating to use for species identification.
• Experience with scientific publishing in the above fields.
To apply please send a CV, contact details for three references, and cover letter stating qualifications, previous work and motivation for this position to Shuang Xing (xingshuangbjfu@gmail.com). If you would like to discuss the project further, please feel free to contact Tom Fayle (tmfayle@gmail.com).
A PhD Studentship is available to work on the project:
Does competition really structure ant communities in tropical forest canopies?
A highly motivated postgraduate student is sought to join a project that aims to explore the relative contribution of biotic (interspecies competition, forest structure) and abiotic effects (climate) on the structuring of canopy ant communities in tropical rain forests. The student will conduct field surveys, and perform experimental transplants of ant colonies across different forest systems and between dominant species territories in New Guinea, a region with globally high insect and plant diversity. In addition to innovative manipulations of species composition, the project will include functional and phylogenetic measures of ant community diversity, and behavioural and thermal-tolerance experiments. There will also be opportunities to develop the project in a direction of the student’s own choosing. Duties will include spending extensive period of time in the field in Papua New Guinea, with remaining time spent in the laboratory in the Czech Republic.
The successful applicant will join the Ant Research Group (http://antscience.com/) at the Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre CAS, Czech Republic, under the supervision of Dr. Petr Klimes, and Prof. Vojtech Novotny. The research facility is in Ceske Budejovice, a charming historical city in the south of the country, within easy reach of Prague and Vienna. The laboratory is a dynamic, multinational group studying ant ecology and is embedded within the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, a world-class centre for tropical ecology research that publish in leading journals (e.g. Ecology Letters, Ecography, Science). The project is in collaboration with New Guinea Binatang Research Centre and the Laboratory of Behavioural Ecology at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz.
The deadline for applications is January 15th 2021, with expected start date of April 1st 2021 (negotiable). The successful applicant will receive a scholarship from the University of South Bohemia and employment on an ongoing grant, for the 4-year PhD course, sufficient to cover living expenses in Czech Republic. Applicants from all countries are eligible.
Required
• A master’s degree (non-negotiable requirement for PhD study in Czech Republic) in ecology, entomology or a related field.
• Interest in the ecology of insects and/or invertebrates.
• Enthusiasm for working in the field for extended periods of time in challenging conditions in tropical forest.
• Ability to work independently and manage small team of assistants, as well as collaborate with other team members.
• Fluency in spoken and written English.
• Experience in the use of ecological statistical analyses.
Desirable
• Previous working experience in the tropics.
• Research experience with social insect ecology & entomology.
• Experience with experiments and analyses in R in the community ecology.
• Scientific publishing in the above fields.
To apply, please send a CV, contact details for three references, and cover letter stating qualifications, previous work and motivation for the position to Jana Liparova (slancarova@entu.cas.cz). If you would like to discuss the project further, please feel free to contact Petr Klimes (peta.klimes@gmail.com).
A position for Postdoctoral Researcher is available to work on the project:
Does competition really structure ant communities in tropical forest canopies?
A highly motivated Postdoctoral Researcher is sought to join a project that aims to explore the relative contribution of biotic (interspecies competition, forest structure) and abiotic effects (climate) on the structuring of canopy ant communities in tropical rain forests. The successful candidate will co-design, and conduct field surveys, and experimental transplants of ant colonies across different forest systems and between dominant species territories in New Guinea, a region with globally high insect and plant diversity. In addition to innovative manipulations of species composition, the project will include functional and phylogenetic measures of ant diversity, and behavioural and thermal-tolerance experiments. He/she will have opportunities to develop the project, as well as to build upon existing plot-based datasets on the ants living in trees. Duties will include conducting and supervising the field work in Papua New Guinea, and working in our laboratory in the Czech Republic.
The successful applicant will join the Ant Research Group (http://antscience.com/) at the Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre CAS, Czech Republic, under the leadership of Dr. Petr Klimes. The research facility is in Ceske Budejovice, a charming historical city in the south of the country, within easy reach of Prague and Vienna. The laboratory is a dynamic, multinational group studying ant ecology. It is embedded within the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology of Prof. Vojtech Novotny (the head), a world-class centre for tropical ecology research that publish in leading journals (e.g. Ecology Letters, Ecography, Science). The applicant will also collaborate with New Guinea Binatang Research Centre and the Laboratory of Behavioural Ecology at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz.
The deadline for applications is January 15th 2021, with expected start date of April 1st 2021 (negotiable). The successful applicant will receive the full time employment with salary CZK 40,000 per month (approx. EUR 1500 pre-tax). Note that living costs in Czech Republic are substantially lower than in many other EU countries, and the salary is competitive (e.g. http://bit.ly/1NCkQKJ). The position is funded by a Czech Science Foundation grant until Dec 31st 2023. Applicants from all countries are eligible.
Required
• A PhD degree in ecology or a related field.
• Interest in the ecology of insects.
• Ability to work independently and manage small team of assistants in the field, as well as collaborate with other senior and junior team members (i.e. co-supervise PhD students).
• Fluency in spoken English, and skills in academic writing in this language
• Good publication record for career stage
• Experience with ecological analyses on the species-rich communities
Desirable
• Previous experience in the tropics, particularly in canopy ecology or manipulative experiments
• Research experience with ant ecology & entomology
• A strong publication record in the above fields
• Advanced analytical skills in R for the community ecology discipline
To apply, please send a CV, contact details for three references, and cover letter stating qualifications, previous work and motivation for the position to Jana Liparova (slancarova@entu.cas.cz). If you would like to discuss the project further, please feel free to contact Petr Klimes (peta.klimes@gmail.com).