am looking for students with excellent CVs (first
class degree and/or distinction at the Masters level, plus relevant
experience and/or publication success in peer reviewed journals) to
apply for a competitive 3 year doctoral scholarship in the school of
Natural Sciences and Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University (https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/research/phd%20scholarships).
Group
living provides substantial advantages but may also engender conflict
over reproduction or other resources. In order for groups to form and
persist, animals must be able to manage this conflict. Across species,
complex sociality involves an interplay between dominance hierarchies,
aggression, submission, cooperation, and kinship. Understanding these
dynamics is a major focus in social behaviour research. Much of the work
done so far has examined primates and other mammals, however,
conducting carefully controlled experiments in these species is often
difficult. The cooperatively breeding cichlid fish, Neolamprologus pulcher, lives and breeds in highly complex permanent social groups. N. pulcher are
small bodied and can easily be housed in aquaria where these remarkable
fish will perform their full suite of social behaviour.
We will make use of a newly established N. pulcher breeding
colony at LJMU. Social behaviours can be scored within these groups
using both live observations and high definition video recordings. I am
interested in understanding social behaviour from an integrative
perspective, and thus neural, endocrine and/or molecular approaches may
also be used. The specific details of the project are flexible and can
be developed in collaboration with the successful candidate to align
with his or her interests, skills, and expertise. This is an excellent
opportunity for a keen student to develop their own project. The project
will likely be primarily laboratory based, though field work in Lake
Tanganyika may also be possible.
Preferred
candidate characteristics include a keen interest in animal social
behaviour; experience studying behaviour in the laboratory and/or the
field; strong writing and analytical skills; knowledge of experimental
design and statistical analysis. Previous experience working with fish
is desirable but not essential. Full training will be provided. UK/EU
nationals only.
The selected candidate will be put up for a competitive internal award (https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/research/phd%20scholarships).
If successful, the scholarship will cover all applicable fees for 3
years including a stipend at the standard UK rate (~£15000pa) and
provides £1500pa in research funding
Please apply by email to a.r.reddon@ljmu.ac.uk with
a CV, a brief statement outlining your interest, and the names and
contact information for two references. Applications due to me by Feb
18. Please feel free to email me with any questions.
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