Job and Study Opportunities

Follow @BES_Careers on Twitter for more on job opportunities.

If you would like to post a job or study opportunity, please email Fiona Le Ray (Careers and Inclusion Officer) with 100-150 words including the job title and workplace, brief summary of the role, deadline, and a link to where they can find more details on how to apply. Please note we only post paid job opportunities.

PhD Position in Community Ecology – University of Bordeaux and University of Gent

Changes in biodiversity in European coastal sand dunes established in front of dune dykes.

DuneFront aims to demonstrate the importance of Dune-Dike Nature Based Solutions for the restoration of local and regional biodiversity. The PhD student will study the patterns of plant diversity, its functioning with respect to dune development and erosion control in the series of demonstrators along the coasts of 6 EU countries. Mainly vegetation ecology, but also patterns in arthropod and soil diversity.

3 years of funding (EU grant DuneFront), Co-tutelle thesis UBordeaux and UGhent.

Advisors : Richard Michalet (UBordeaux) and Dries Bonte (UGhent).
Requirements : Master degree in Ecology, experience in field experiments, trait-based approaches, plant or animal taxonomy and high level in English speaking and writing.

Beginning: Early March 2024, Early October the latest.

For more information and to apply: Contact richard.michalet@u-bordeaux.fr, Dries.Bonte@UGent.be

Postdoc in Eco-evolutionary responses of phytoplankton to changing environments – Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany

3-year Postdoc position in “Eco-evolutionary responses of phytoplankton to changing environments” at the Biologische Anstalt Helgoland (AWI, Germany)

We are searching for an enthusiastic postdoctoral candidate, who will investigate phytoplankton population dynamics and the associated eco-evolutionary responses to warming and changing dissolved nutrient concentrations. The comparison of different phytoplankton taxa will allow us to observe whether certain populations are more prone to instability under stress. To test this, the candidate will conduct long-term exposure chemostat experiments to assess the interactions between different stressors and their effects on fitness-relevant life-history traits of phytoplankton populations.

For any questions you may have, you are very welcome to get in touch with Maarten Boersma (+49 4725 819 3350, maarten.boersma@awi.de).

Click here for more information: Postdoc – Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany

Click here to apply

PhD on Parental effects and transgenerational plasticity of fat metabolism – University of Liège, Belgium

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate to work in the laboratory of Dr. Bertanne Visser (ULiège, Belgium) in collaboration with Dr. Cécile Le Lann and Prof. Joan van Baaren (URennes, France). Funding is available to pay a salary for 1 year, during which the candidate is expected to apply for grants to fund a 4-year PhD project.

During the first year of the project, the candidate will be trained and involved in ongoing research efforts of the Visser laboratory, working on eco-evolutionary aspects of fat metabolism in parasitoids. In collaboration with Prof. van Baaren and Dr. Le Lann, working on the effects of climate change on host-parasitoid interactions, the candidate is expected to develop a project on parental effects and transgenerational plasticity in response to reliable and unreliable variation in host fat content and temperature.

Click here for more information and to apply

Independent Research Fellowships – University of Sheffield

The Ecology and Evolutionary Biology research cluster at the University of Sheffield (UK) is keen to support early career researchers in developing applications for independent research fellowships that align with our broad interests, including fundamental questions in ecology, conservation, and evolutionary biology, addressing key global challenges facing biodiversity and humankind.

We are especially encouraging members of under-represented groups to apply to hold an independent research fellowship with us.

We offer long-term Independent Research Fellows an academic position after their fellowship and a PhD student during the fellowship (more details here). Upcoming eligible schemes include NERC IRF, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin and URF, with closing dates in September/October. Please complete this short, expression of interest form, by 30th April if you are interested in these. For enquiries about any other fellowships, or for future rounds, please get in touch at any time.

Informal enquiries can be directed to Nicola Nadeau (head of EEB) or Gavin Thomas (EEB researcher development lead).

Deadline: 30th April

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO APPLY

Post-doctoral research opportunity: Securing Scotland’s soils in a changing climate – ClimateXChange, Edinburgh

One-year post-doctoral research opportunity on Securing Scotland’s soils in a changing climate being commissioned by ClimateXChange, Scotland’s Centre of Expertise on Climate Change.

Full details are provided below. If you wish to submit a proposal please respond according to the attached document.

Proposals need to be submitted to lee.callaghan@ed.ac.uk and cc’d to sarah.govan@ed.ac.uk for evaluation.

Deadline: Noon on Tuesday 7th May

Click here for more information

Postdoc. opportunity in Earthworm Ecology (two years) – University of York

Our Leverhulme funded project investigates the impacts of increased extent and duration of flooding, due to climate change, on earthworm abundance. We will determine soil water contents at which earthworms avoid soil, whether differences in haemoglobin allow some earthworms to survive in flooded soil whilst others drown, how long earthworm eggs remain viable in flooded soils and how UK flood hazards may increase due to climate change. With this information we will determine threats to UK earthworm communities from climate change-related increased flooding.

The York-based PDRA will sample soils and earthworms, identify earthworms, design and carry out: earthworm avoidance experiments using soils of different moisture content, earthworm exposure experiments in which earthworms are kept in solution and exposed to different oxygen concentrations and, cocoon viability experiments. Haemoglobin work will be led by a Liverpool-based PDRA and climate modelling by a Leeds-based PDRA.

Deadline: 9th May

Click here for more information and to apply

or email [mark.hodson@york.ac.uk]mark.hodson@york.ac.uk

PhD position in Ecological Modelling: Population dynamics of the invasive Japanese beetle to optimize surveillance and control strategies in Europe – Avignon, France

The Japanese beetle poses a significant threat to European agriculture and biodiversity.

This 3yr funded PhD thesis seeks to advance scientific knowledge on the population dynamics (both temporal and spatial) of the beetle, with the applied goal of defining effective control and surveillance strategies. The research may employ various approaches, including reaction diffusion equations, spatio-temporal point process models and remote sensing. The thesis will also explore the ecological interactions between the pest, main European crops and the environment.

Requirements: master in Applied Mathematics, Data Science, Engineering, Physics or similar, with interest in life science.

Thesis direction: Daniele Bevacqua (INRAE); Florent Bonneu (Avignon University) ; Davide Martinetti ( INRAE)

For more information and to apply: daniele.bevacqua@inrae.fr

Deadline: 15th May 2024