Bielefeld University, Department of Animal Behaviour

PhD - personality, fitness and gene expression in Zebra finch

application deadline: 5.12.2014

A PhD position to study the covariation between personality, fitness and gene expression is available in the Department of Animal Behaviour at Bielefeld University from February 1st 2015 or soon thereafter.

The position is available for three years and is funded by Departmental Funds.We seek a bright and highly motivated student who has a proven record studying animal behaviour. A very good Master degree or equivalent in a relevant topic (e.g. animal behaviour, behavioural ecology, population ecology, evolutionary ecology) is expected. The ideal candidate will be able to work both independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team, will have experience with both statistics and genetic techniques and excellent spoken and written English.The study will make use of the zebra finch selection lines which have been established in 2011 for three different personality dimensions (aggression, exploration, fearfulness). Each selection line has a "high" and "low" level and we are currently phenotyping the F3-generation. The aim of the project is to continue these lines and see how personality and fitness traits covary. We also plan to use transcriptomics to test whether differences in behaviour of the selection lines covary with gene expression.The successful candidate will be based at the Department of Animal Behaviour at Bielefeld University (www.uni-bielefeld.de/biologie/animalbehaviour/home.html) and will be supervised by Oliver Krüger and Tobias Krause. The department is the oldest of its kind in Germany and currently hosts six principal investigators, eight postdocs and 20 PhD students. It offers a stimulating international environment and an excellent research infrastructure including a brand new molecular laboratory. The working language of the Department is English. Together with the Evolution and Animal Ecology research groups housed in the same building, there are some 50 scientists and PhD students from over ten different countries working on related topics in behaviour, ecology and evolution.Bielefeld is a city of 325,000 inhabitants with all expected amenities and easy access to the Teutoburger Wald for hiking and other outdoor pursuits. It offers a high standard of living and is well connected to most major European cities.To apply for the position, please provide: (i) a letter of motivation including a 1-2-page statement of your research experience; (ii) a CV including publication list; (iii) names and contact details of three referees willing to write confidential letters of recommendation. All materials should be emailed as a single PDF file to:  Tato emailová adresa je chráněna před spamboty, abyste ji viděli, povolte JavaScript .The application deadline is December 5th 2014 and interviews will take place shortly thereafter. The preferred start date is March 1st 2015 but is flexible and will depend on the timeframe of the most qualified applicant. For further information on the project and the Department, please see www.uni-bielefeld.de/biologie/animalbehaviour/home or contact Tobias Krause via email ( Tato emailová adresa je chráněna před spamboty, abyste ji viděli, povolte JavaScript ) with any informal [UTF-8?]inquiries.​​