vendredi 7 septembre 2018

PhD Position Uncovering intra- and inter-specific movement strategies of large herbivores living in dynamic complex landscapes

SUPERVISORS: Anne LOISON ( Gr enoble Univer s it y) , Luca BORGER ( S wansea Unver sit y)
SUBJECT DESCRIPTION:
In  the  current  ‘Era  of  the  Anthropocene’,  global  human  impact  is  fundamentally  altering  ecological  processes  on  earth.  Thus understanding  and  predicting  how  biodiversity  will  respond  to  environmental  change  has  become  one  of  the  most  pressing questions  for  ecological  research.  Biodiversity  responses  to  global  change  are  ultimately  mediated  by  proximate  behavioural processes of individual organisms, affecting energyintake and expenditure and exposure to risks, and ultimately the distribution and demographic performance of individuals. Movement in particular is a key behavioural response to environmental change determining shifts in the abundance and range of species, yet we still lack the ability to understand and predict in a robust way why, and where, animals move.
The  goal  of  this  PhD  project  is  to  build  upon  the  exceptional  opportunities  offered  by  a  large  set  of  sub-second  biologging (accelerometer, magnetometer) and GPS data collected by an ongoing large UK-France collaboration and aFrench ANR-funded project  running  until  2020  (“Mov-It”),  which  yield  sub-second  movement  paths  with  associated  information  on  the  detailed behaviour, individual state and energy expenditure  of each individual, collected on over 100  individuals of five wild ungulate species  and  three  domestic  ones,  from  six  contrasting  study  areas  across  France,  to  develop  novel  mechanistic,  predictive models  of  individual  and  species  responses  to  environmental  change.  This  will  be  achieved  by  tackling  three  inter-related, incremental  objectives.  Firstly  the  student  will  quantify  movement  decisions  and  costs  under  different constraints  (e.g.  food, weather,  disturbance);  then  incorporate  the  estimated  costs  functions  into  Agent  Based  Models  and  multi-objective optimisation functions to model and map the full set of biologically realistic movement strategies under environmental change in complex, real landscapes. Thirdly, the student will develop from the modelling results a scenario planning tool for managers and landscape planners, allowing to build predictive models of individual movements and population andspecies redistributions under  different  scenarios  of  environmental  change  and  management  decisions.   These  aims  will  be  further  facilitated  by  the availability of a rich set of biological knowledge on the demography, life history and ecology of the species obtained by the longterm  study  sites.  Furthermore,  the  student  will  profit  from  novel  statistical  and  mathematical  methods which  we  have developed to handle such complex, big data and novel quantitative models of animal movement, and to include currencies such as movement costs. Most importantly, the project isbased on the understanding that there is not one single solution, in a given landscape, that solves the complex cost-benefit problem facing a herbivore for choosing where to be, what to do, how long to stay,  and  where  to  move  next.  Thus  we  look  forward  to  work  with  an  enthusiastic,  creative,  dedicated  student  to  solve  this “Movement Rubik’s Cube”.
The project will be supervised by Anne Loison at Université Grenoble Alpes/Université Savoie Mont-Blanc, and by Luca Borger at Department  of  Biosciences,  College  of  Science  at  Swansea  University.  In  addition,  this  project  will  be plugged  into  existing collaborations with Rowan Brown and Rory Wilson (Swansea University), Jonathan Potts (Sheffield University), and the Mov-It
ANR-funded  project  consortium  (Mathieu  Garel-  French  Game  and  Wildlife  management  Office;  Jean-Michel  Gaillard- Laboratoire  de  Biométrie  et  Biologie  Evolutive,  Lyon  University;  Mark  Hewison-  National  Institute  for  Agronomy  Research, Toulouse)
A total of 18 months will be spent in France, and 18 months in the UK.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Applicants:
The  candidate  should  hold  a  Master’s  degree  in  a  relevant  discipline  (behaviour  ecology,  quantitative  ecology,  modelling, mathematics) or be expected to gain one by October 2018, or have a university degree equivalent to a European Master's (5-year duration). Highly developed modelling expertise, and knowledge of movement ecology, will be required. For candidates whose first language is not English, we require IELTS 6.5 (with 6.0 in each component) or equivalent. Please visit our website for a  list  of  acceptable  English  language  tests  (http://www.swansea.ac.uk/international/students/requirements/englishrequirements/).   We  prefer  candidates  to  have  already  met  the  English  Language  requirements  at  the  point  of  application, although this is not a requirement. Competence in French is highly desirable, and would be a substantial advantage for day to day  activities,  too.  Informal  enquiries  before  the  closing  date  are  welcome  by  emailing  l.borger@swansea.ac.uk and
anne.loison@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/ anne.loison@univ-smb.fr.
Applicants should send the following documents to anne.loison@univ-smb.fr. and l.borger@swansea.ac.ukand science-scholarships@swansea.ac.uk :
  Academic References– all scholarship applications require two supporting references to be submitted. Please ensure that your chosen referees are aware of the funding deadline, as their references form a vital part of the evaluation process. Please either include these with your scholarship application or ask your referees to send them directly by email.
  Academic Transcripts and Degree Certificates – academic transcripts and degree certificates mustbe
submitted along with the scholarship application bythe funding deadline. We will be using these to verify your academic qualifications.
  CV –please include a recent CV
  A short presentation describing your final year scientific project (2 to 3 pages max)
  A motivation letter
Applicants should comply with the application procedure at Swansea University, that is to download the research scholarship application formand return it to the College of Science with all the above mentioned documents.
These documents can also be posted at Recruitment and Marketing Team, College of Science Wallace Building, Swansea University
Singleton Park
Swansea SA2 8PP, UK
SELECTION PROCESS
Application deadline: 15/09/2018 at 17:00 (CET)
Applications will be evaluated through a three-stepprocess:
1.  Eligibility check of applications in 16/09/2018
2.  1st round of selection: the applications will be evaluated by a Review Board in September 2018. Results will be given by end of September 2018.
3.  2nd round of selection: shortlisted candidates willbe invited for an interview session in Grenoble inearly October 2018 if necessary.
TYPE of CONTRACT: temporary-3 years of doctoral contract
JOB STATUS: Full time
HOURS PER WEEK: 35
OFFER STARTING DATE: 15 December 2018
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 15/09/2018
Funding:
This is a three year fully-funded College of Science, Swansea University/Université Grenoble Alpes scholarship, open to UK/EU candidates which includes an annual stipend of £14,777 plus full UK/EU tuition fees.
Salary: between 1768.55 € and 2100 € brut per month(depending on complementary activity or not)
Grenoble University : 50% of the funding
Swansea University: 50% of the funding