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The Bagchi lab in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut invites applications from motivated and independent Ph. D. and M. S. students to start in the Fall of 2016. Our group combines experimental and quantitative approaches to investigate processes that regulate diversity in ecological communities, especially in the context of natural and anthropogenic gradients. Much of our work involves tropical forests but we also work in temperate systems, which may be more tractable for some of our questions.
Some questions that we are interested in are: 1) Is coexistence of competing plant species maintained by natural enemies? 2) How do interactions between plants and their natural enemies vary along environmental (e.g. precipitation and soil fertility) and anthropogenic (e.g. habitat fragmentation and hunting) gradients? 3) What factors influence the relative abundances of host-specialist and host-generalist herbivores in ecological communities? 4) How does fruiting synchrony affect seedling survival in Southeast Asian rain forests and what factors increase asynchronous fruiting? 5) How do different coexistence mechanisms influence the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning? This is far from an exhaustive list and is meant to give a flavor of the types of questions we address. Other ideas that fit in with our overall research themes are very welcome (if in doubt, drop us an email).
Applicants should have a Bachelor’s degree in Ecology or a related discipline and a Master’s degree will be advantageous for Ph. D. applications. A broad knowledge of ecology, strong written and verbal communication ability in English and quantitative skills are essential. Preference will be given to applicants with proven research aptitude (e.g. published papers), experience of field work, and an interest and knowledge of natural history (especially in the system they would like to work in). To be competitive for admission to UConn's graduate program, students should have a GPA of >3.5 (or equivalent for international students) and GREs of 80% or higher.
Application process
Interested and qualified candidates should browse my web page (http://bagchi.eeb.uconn.edu) and then email me (
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) with 1) a description of research interests and brief ideas for research projects (5-6 sentences), 2) an up-to-date CV, 3) a sample of scientific writing (e.g. a thesis chapter, term paper or first-authored publication), 4) degree results (GPA or equivalent) and GRE scores. I will give preference to applicants who contact me by Friday, October 30th 2015 so that we have plenty of time to discuss projects and funding opportunities before the UConn Graduate School’s application deadline on December 15th 2015. Strong applicants will be contacted to schedule an informal interview via Skype. Financial support is available through research assistantships, teaching assistantships and university fellowships, but applicants are strongly encouraged to seek external funding. The UConn Graduate School has several funding opportunities for outstanding applicants and groups that are historically under-represented in science.
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Dr Robert
Bagchi
Assistant Professor
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary
Biology
University of
Connecticut
75 N. Eagleville Road, Unit
3043
Storrs, CT
06269-3043
USA
Email:
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Phone: +1
860-486-6587
Web: http://bagchi.eeb.uconn.edu/
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