Vacancies
Vacancies
Here you will find details of social insect related job vacancies, studentships and grants currently available. If you have any social insect related vacancies that you would like to have advertised here, please e-mail to INSECTS@bio.ku.dk. All advertisements must include either a closing date for applications, or a date on which they may be removed from the web site. This page was last modified on Friday, February 3, 2012
Overview of vacancies on this page:
Postdoctoral Position in Bee Nutrition: University of Pretoria
Graduate Opportunities in Honey Bee Research, University of N Carolina, Greensboro
PhD position, Bumblebee pollination ecology, University of East Anglia
Graduate Opportunities in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Houston
Graduate Position: North American Nylanderia Social Parasites, Towson University, USA
MSc and PhD student positions: ant evolutionary genomics, Lausanne, Switzerland
Postdoctoral Position in Bee Nutrition: University of Pretoria
As part of the UK government’s Insect Pollinators’ Initiative, a postdoctoral position is available in an international team studying the nutritional ecology of honeybees and bumblebees.
The researcher will use the geometric framework approach to investigate protein and carbohydrate regulation in adult and larval honeybees, seeking to define how nutrient intake targets vary with developmental needs and stresses on bees, including pesticides, toxins, and immune challenges. The appointment will be at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
The ideal candidate will have experience with the design and analysis of physiological experiments. Research experience with bees is desirable but not essential.
The annual salary will be in the form of a non-taxable bursary of R200 000. The position is for two years, commencing as soon as possible.
Contact: Sue Nicolson or Christian Pirk, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa, +27 12 420 5343, swnicolson@zoology.up.ac.za or cwwpirk@zoology.up.ac.za
Posted 27/1/2012
PhD: Chemical signatures of floral resource competition between honeybees and wild bees, Bochum/Darmstadt
Doctoral position in Chemical Ecology and Biodiversity research (TV-TL13 65%)
Within the research program Exploratories for large-scale and long-term functional biodiversity, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), we seek a candidate to conduct research on "Chemical signatures of floral resource competition between honeybees and wild bees along a landuse gradient". The project will be co-supervised by Dr. Thomas Eltz (Ruhr-Universität Bochum) and Prof. Dr. Nico Blüthgen (TU Darmstadt). The field work will be conducted in three Exploratories located in Schorfheide/Chorin, Hainich/Dün, and Schwäbische Alb/Münsingen. The general goal is to understand the effect of domesticated honeybees on foraging patterns and resource use of wild bees, especially bumblebees, and to clarify whether resource competition is influenced by land use intensity. The candidate will extract chemical "footprints" of bees from flowers, infer flower visitation from chemical data (GC/MS), and conduct competition experiments in the field.
The position will start in April 2012 for the duration of three years. Successful candidates should have a strong background in chemical ecology, entomology, or related fields, and should enjoy field work. A Diplom/M.Sc. degree in Biology or a related subject will be required. The position will be based at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. A Driver's license is required, and having available an own car is useful. We expect the candidate to have good communication skills, some German language proficiency and the ability to work in a team.
The closing date for applications will be 17 February 2012. Applications should include a cover letter, C.V., list of publications, a short statement of research interests, and names and email-addresses of three references. Applications in German or English should be sent electronically by e-mail, preferably combined to a single pdf. We especially encourage women to apply. Physically handicapped persons will be given preference in case of equal qualifications.
Further information can be found here:
http://www.biodiversity-exploratories.de/1/projects/weitere-projekte/aboveground-invertebrates-related-studies/footprints/
http://homepage.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/Thomas.Eltz/
Please send your application to Dr. Thomas Eltz, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Lehrstuhl für Evolutionsökologie und Biodiversität der Tiere, Universitätsstraße 150, D-44780 Bochum, thomas.eltz@rub.de, Phone INT-(0)234-32-27237.
Posted 18/1/2012
Graduate Opportunities in Honey Bee Research, University of N Carolina, Greensboro
I am recruiting new graduate students to start their MS or PhD in my lab for Fall 2012. Our group focuses on Honey Bee Genetics and Genomics, Aging, and Bee Health. For more detailed information, please visit our website or inquire via email. Students with an interest in the above topics and/or experience in high-throughput sequencing are particularly encouraged to apply. The Department of Biology at the University of North Carolina Greensboro has a long-standing, flourishing MS and a new PhD program with competitive graduate stipends. For more information go to www.uncg.edu/bio.
Dr. Olav Rueppell
Associate Professor
Department of Biology
Univ. North Carolina at Greensboro
312 Eberhart Bldg.
Greensboro, NC 27403, USA
Tel.: (1) 336-256-2591
Fax: (1) 336-334-5839
http://www.uncg.edu/bio/faculty/olav_rueppell/lab/index.html
Posted 21/12/2011
PhD position, Bumblebee pollination ecology, University of East Anglia
Plant-pollinator relationships in the bumblebee Bombus hortorum and its forage plants
Andrew Bourke, Tove Jorgensen, School of Biological sciences, university of East Anglia
The widespread bumblebee Bombus hortorum has an exceptionally long tongue (proboscis) and hence preferentially visits plant species with long tubular flowers (corollae). Many plant species with long corollae, including wildflowers and crops, may therefore largely rely on B. hortorum for pollination. However, despite intense interest in levels of specialization within plant-pollinator systems [1], the overall extent to which individual plant species depend on B. hortorum pollination has not been fully investigated. In addition, although recent studies have elucidated the spatial ecology of bees using genetic markers (e.g. [2, 3]), and new techniques such as the genotyping of single pollen grains at microsatellite markers have become available [4], no studies have combined such approaches to investigate the interaction of bee and pollen movement in space within individual plant-pollinator systems. Systems with predominantly single pollinator species are particularly suitable for this purpose because they lack the complexity of more generalized systems.
This project will therefore address two main research questions. First, to what extent do wildflowers and crops with long corollae depend on B. hortorum for pollination? This will be investigated using field studies on selected U.K. plant species. Second, in the focal systems, how do the parameters of bee spatial ecology (e.g. number of individual workers visiting a single plant, workers' foraging distance) interact with the parameters of the plant's mating system (e.g. number of partners from which a given plant receives pollen)? This will be investigated by genotyping tissue from bees (nonlethally), pollen sampled from bees, and green tissue and seeds from plants, using microsatellite loci [e.g. 4, 5]. Since both research questions address issues of broad interest in new ways, the student should receive excellent, interdisciplinary training in basic and applied ecology.
Informal enquiries to: a.bourke@uea.ac.uk; funding is to be confirmed; rolling deadlines for UEA School of Biological Sciences PhD Studentships are: 29 February 2012 and 23 April 2012.
Apply via: http://ueasciweb.uea.ac.uk/Resproject/show.aspx?ID=133
Posted 16/12/2011
Graduate Opportunities in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Houston
The Department of Biology and Biochemistry at the University of Houston (UH) welcomes applications for its graduate program in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology for Fall 2012. The following faculty in the area of Evolutionary Biology and Ecology have opportunities available for their labs:
Blaine Cole (bcole@uh.edu) - Evolution and social behavior
Dan Graur (dgraur@uh.edu) - Theoretical molecular evolution
Dan Wells (dwells@uh.edu) - Evolution of development and behavior
Diane Wiernasz (dwiernasz@uh.edu) - Sexual selection
Elizabeth Ostrowski (eostrowski@gmail.com) - Evolutionary genetics and multicellularity
George Fox (fox@uh.edu) - Experimental evolution and origin of life
Gregg Roman (gwroman@uh.edu) - Evolution of behavior
Rebecca Zufall (rzufall@uh.edu) - Genome and molecular evolution
Ricardo Azevedo (razevedo@uh.edu) - Evolutionary genetics
Steve Pennings (spennings@uh.edu) - Community ecology
Tim Cooper (tcooper@central.uh.edu) - Experimental evolution
Tony Frankino (wafranki@central.uh.edu) - Evolution of complex traits
Yuriy Fofanov (yfofanov@bioinfo.uh.edu) - Evolutionary bioinformatics
For more information regarding the Evolutionary Biology and Ecology graduate program at UH see:
http://www.bchs.uh.edu/graduate/prospective-students/index.php
http://www.uh.edu/admissions/graduate/
The deadline for application of prospective students is March 1st, 2012, but students are encouraged to apply as early as possible.
Posted 9/12/2011
Graduate Position: North American Nylanderia Social Parasites, Towson University, USA
Seeking a master's-level graduate student to participate in a study of a recently discovered socially parasitic ant species in the genus Nylanderia. This project offers the opportunity to investigate the evolution of social parasitism within ants generally, and specifically within the genus Nylanderia. This project will involve extensive fieldwork, coupled with lab rearing of ant colonies and molecular data collection and analysis. Potential students should be enthusiastic, highly motivated, capable of working independently, and committed to a graduate education. A teaching assistantship is available for this position, along with summer support. Experience with ants is not necessary if the student has the discipline and tenacity to learn about this fascinating group of animals. Interested students should contact Dr. John LaPolla at jlapolla@towson.edu.
Revised deadline for applications: 15 March 2012
For further information about the Towson University Biology Graduate Program see: http://wwwnew.towson.edu/biologicalsciences/graduate_program.html
John S. LaPolla, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biology
Co-Director, Biology Graduate Program
Dept. of Biological Sciences
8000 York Road
Towson University
Towson, MD 21252
USAphone: +1-410-704-3121
fax: +1-410-704-2405
Posted 9/12/2011
MSc and PhD student positions: ant evolutionary genomics, Lausanne, Switzerland
Department of Ecology and Evolution University of Lausanne, Switzerland
MSc and PhD positions are available in the lab of Prof. Laurent Keller (http://www.unil.ch/dee/page6763_en.html). Our group is interested in the principles governing the behavior, ecology, and evolution of animal societies. While this is richly described by theory, how this is translated to the molecular level is virtually unknown. We have recently published the genome of the red imported fire ant and the lab continues to develop genomic infrastructures in this species. We use genomic approaches to identify candidate genes and pathways that are associated with the biology of social insects. In particular, we are using next generation sequencing to study gene expression and population genetics in fire ants. Ultimately, our goal is to elucidate the evolution of molecular mechanisms underlying traits that characterize social insects. Possible research topics include, but are not limited to, social behavior, caste determination, immunity, and aging.
Candidates should be highly motivated and have a background in bioinformatics and in molecular, genomic, or cell biology. Good knowledge of English is required. Interested applicants should send a short summary of research interests and experiences (in English), a curriculum vitae, as well as the names, emails and phone numbers of 2 references to Eyal Privman: Eyal.Privman@unil.ch
Posted 28/11/2011
Vacancies will be advertised on this page until the closing date for applications, or, where no firm closing date is given, for a maximum of 3 months. If a position has been filled in the meantime, please let the webmaster know.
This site is maintained and promoted on the Internet by David Nash email to: DRNash @ bio.ku.dk
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