Project: DrosoNet (on the use of social network to understand the factors affecting spread and stability of social transmission in Drosophila)
Hiring Organization: Ethologie Evolutive; Département d'Ecologie, Physiologie et Ethologie; Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien; 23, rue Becquerel f-67087 Strasbourg Cedex France
Date Posted:
2012-12-18
Position Description: full-time Post-doctoral researcher position (24 months) to investigate the mechanisms underlying information transmission in flies. The successful candidate is expected to spend a considerable amount of time to model artificial social networks and observed social networks from different tested groups of flies in order to know how the structure of the social network influence the speed of information transmission and temporal stability of traditions in Drosophila. Using multi-agent systems, the successful candidate will test different properties of observed and theoretical networks on a Markov chain process of diffusion.
Qualifications/Experience:
Required: We invite applications from students holding (or expecting to obtain prior to September 2012) a PhD in Bioinformatics with a strong expertise on social networks and animal societies or in Biology/Anthropology with a strong expertise on modelling and Graph Theory. Previous experience analyzing behavioural and diffusion/social data will be highly advantageous. Applicants should moreover be proficient in written and spoken English, have excellent social skills, and be able to work both independently and in a large, interdisciplinary team.
Beneficial: Matlab, JAABA, Ctrax, basic knowledge of French.
Salary/funding:
The salary will be in accordance with French national regulations for post-doctoral researchers and amounts to about 3996euros per month (fully charged, i.e. about 2200euros net basic salary).
Support provided for positions:
One national and one international Congress per year
Term of Appointment:
The initial appointment will be for 2 years and will begin on 1 May 2013.
Application Deadline:
1 March 2013
Comments:
Applications consisting of a cover letter stating research experience and interests, a detailed curriculum vitae, and the names and e-mail addresses of two referees can be sent electronically to Dr. Cédric Sueur, cedric.sueur@iphc.cnrs.fr.
Contact Information:
Cédric Sueur
Website:
Cédric Sueur (leader of social network analysis and modelling): http://www.iphc.cnrs.fr/-Cedric-Sueur-.html
Frédéric Méry (Principal Investigator on the Drosonet project): http://www.legs.cnrs-gif.fr/perso.php?id=mery
E-mail Address:
Summary of the DrosoNet Project
Understanding the link between individual behavior and population organization and functioning has long been central in ecology and evolutionary biology. Behavior is a response to intrinsic and extrinsic factors including individual state, ecological factors or social interactions. Within a group each individual can be seen as part of a network of social interactions varying in strength, type and dynamic. The structure of this network can deeply impact the ecology and evolution of individuals, populations and species. Within a group social transmission of behavior can take many forms and may deeply affect individual’s fitness. Social learning has been studied mostly in fish, birds and mammals including humans. In insects, social learning has been unambiguously demonstrated in social Hymenoptera but this probably reflects limited research effort and recent evidence show that even non-eusocial insects such as Drosophila can copy the behavior of others. Compared to individual learning, which requires a trial and error period in every generation, social learning can potentially result in stable transmission of behavior across generations, leading in some species to cultural tradition. Despite the potential importance of social transmission on animal behavior relatively little is known about the processes which may facilitates or prevent this transmission and the relationship between social network structure and efficiency of social transmission. The goal of this project is to study the genetic and socio-environmental factors affecting social transmission with the integration of experimental approach and social network analysis. Both will be synthesized in a hierarchical modeling approach allowing predictions on the pattern of social information flow based on the social network structure. More specifically DrosoNet focuses on the mechanisms of information transfers that generate social learning. The originality of the program is to integrate complementary approaches (behavioral and social) devoted traditionally to very distinct biological models characterized by strongly divergent group organizations. This approach can help us identify patterns of social interaction (including how they change with time) that can lay the foundation for understanding key components of social transmission, in order to understand at a global scale the emergence of tradition ?.
Using Drosophila as an experimental model system the project will investigate (1) how the structure of a group affects social transmission; (2) how individuals treat different source of information (in particular personal vs. social information), and (3) the genetic bases of social learning ability. Importantly we aim to understand whether a relationship between social network structures and dynamic can reflect the efficiency of social transmission, i.e. can we use social network analysis in order to predict social transmission of information and ultimately the evolutionary trajectory of a group?