lundi 11 février 2019

Volunteer Research Assistant position at the Kalahari Mole-rat Project

The Research
We are looking for several volunteer research assistants to carry out exciting experiments with captive  Damaraland  mole-rats,  Fukomys  damarensis,  at  the  Kuruman  River  Reserve  in  the South African Kalahari Desert.
Broadly,  our  research  investigates  the  influence  of genes,  hormones  and  social  factors  on  individual developmental, growth and behaviours.  We are  also interested in characterizing the  differences between breeding and non-breeding individuals
What you can gain from this role
This  position  is particularly suited, but not exclusively, for people aiming to carry on  their  academic  education  or  a  management  position  in  a research  project.  Successful  applicants  can  expect  to  gain invaluable  experience  in  animal  handling  procedures  and  in conducting  and  managing  experiments.  They  will  also  gain database  skills  (MySQL)  and  will  be  provided  with  the opportunity to work on a personal analysis project using the data available  in  our  existing  database.  Costs  of  food  and accommodation  while  at  the  project  will  be  covered.  A contribution  towards  travel  costs  will  be  made  (300 Euros/Year)
Candidate requirements
Applicants should be available for a period of 6 to 12 months. They should be hardworking, enthusiastic, physically fit, and prepared for long hours in the laboratory. Successful applicants will  be  responsible  to  run  experiments  and  will  be  involved  in  data  collection  (behavioural observations, collection of biological samples), data editing and animal handling. Working weeks will not exceed 45 hours.