----- Mensagem encaminhada ----- De: Jörgen Ripa
<jorgen.ripa@xxxxxxxxxx>Enviado: terça-feira, 26 de março de 2019 18:56:52 GMT+1
Assunto: PhD-position in theoretical/ computational ecology and evolutionary
biology at Lund University
Dear Friends and colleagues Please help us find a candidate for a
PhD-position in theoretical/ computational ecology and evolutionary biology at
Lund University, Sweden. We are looking for a highly motivated and
quantitatively minded candidate with a general interest in ecology, evolution,
and community structure and dynamics. I would be grateful if you could spread
the word among your students and fellow colleagues. See a detailed description
of the position below and feel free to contact me (mikael.pontarp@xxxxxxxxxx)
for further information. Link English version:
https://lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:258502/ Link Swedish version:
https://lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:258502/ Sincerely Mikael Pontarp
Project description The fact that climate change can cause extinction of
species is established, but our ability to study and quantify causality of such
effects is challenging. Reliable predictions about future extinctions are thus
also elusive. The aim of this project is to develop theory and quantitative
methods that can improve our understanding and prediction of ecological and
evolutionary processes that structures and maintains biological communities.
The Ph.D. student should thus have basic knowledge of how ecological
interactions, evolutionary processes, and dispersal of organisms in a variable
environment can affect the structure and dynamics of communities. A particular
focus will be on the phylogenetic difference between communities
(phylobetadiversity), a metric of community structure that contains signals of
both ecological, evolutionary and biogeographical processes. The student will
formulate general theory of the causal link between process and
phylobetadiversity through analysis of spatially explicit eco-evolutionary
models. Theory will also be tested against empirical patterns through
parametrization and validation of the models, given available data. There will
be a particular focus on hummingbird community data from the Andes, which is a
global biodiversity hotspot. By fitting models to hummingbird data, we aim to
quantify the processes that have structured this unique ecosystem, and possibly
predict how this system may respond to future conditions. The project is at
its start-up phase and part of the start-up of Dr. Mikael Pontarp’s research
group at Lund University. The student will thus have the opportunity to
contribute to the profile of the project as well as the direction it may take.
To be able to utilize such an opportunity the student needs to be independent
and persistent. In addition, to succeed in a theoretical and quantitative
project like this, the student needs experience in and interest of differential
equation models, agent-based simulations, evolutionary analysis, and
statistics. The project is expected to be carried out in collaboration with
Prof. Åke Brännström at Umeå Univeristy, Sweden who will serve as assistant
supervisor. Requirements and qualifications The candidate should have a
Masters degree in ecology/evolutionary biology. Alternatively, the candidate
may have a degree in Physics, Mathematics or computer science. Knowledge of
interacting ecological, evolutionary and biogeographical processes that
underpin community structure and dynamics is desirable. Candidates also need to
have proficiency, but not necessarily documented, in working with mathematical
modeling, computation and computers and programming, e.g. in Matlab, Python,
Julia, C++, etc. Knowledge of model parameterization and validation and
Bayesian statistics is also desirable. Important qualities in a successful
candidate are outgoing, curiosity, problem-solving, structured, independent and
persistent. Eligibility Students with basic eligibility for third-cycle
studies are those who- have completed a second-cycle degree- have completed
courses of at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits are from
second-cycle courses, or- have acquired largely equivalent knowledge in some
other way, in Sweden or abroad. The employment of doctoral students is
regulated in the Swedish Code of Statues 1998: 80. Only those who are or have
been admitted to PhD-studies may be appointed to doctoral studentships. When an
appointment to a doctoral studentship is made, the ability of the student to
benefit from PhD-studies shall primarily be taken into account. In addition to
devoting themselves to their studies, those appointed to doctoral studentships
may be required to work with educational tasks, research and administration, in
accordance with specific regulations in the ordinance. Application Link
English version: https://lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:258502/ Link Swedish ;
version: https://lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:258502/
________________________________________
Dr. Mikael PontarpDepartment of Biology, Lund UniversityBiology Building,
Sölvegatan 35223 62 LundSweden
