A 12-month post-doc position is available at the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle / Alliance Sorbonne Université (UMR 7206 Eco-anthropology MNHN-CNRS-Université de Paris), to study how changes in husbandry procedures affect emotional state in captive mouse lemurs.
Research topic
As ethical concerns about the use of animals in research become more complex and urgent, it is especially timely to further develop scientifically-based guidelines for improving experimental practices, which can only be done after a proper scientific evaluation of well-being in laboratory animals. Animal well-being isoften defined as “a state of complete mental and physical health, where the animal is in harmony with its environment”. Animal well-being is thus considered to be reached when physiological and psychological needs are satisfied. Because subjective emotional experiences are not measurable in animals, assessing animal wellbeing requires the identification of reliable indicators, including behavioural indicators. To identify reliable indicators of well-being, one efficient approach is to analyse the animal responses to any experimental procedure or changes in husbandry management (for example, social isolation, feeding schedule, handling protocols). However, animal responses to environmental changes may depend on the nature, duration and frequency of the environmental disruption on one hand, and on individual characteristics, such as species, age, sex, personality and morphology on the other hand. As a consequence, it is necessary to assess the emotional responses to these environmental changes in order to conclude on their impact on animal well-being. The use of nonhuman primates in research is becoming an increasing topic of public and scientific because of close proximitywith the human species.
The objective of this project is to empirically evaluate well-being in the common mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus), a small primates species which is often used as animal model in scientific research because of small size, short lifespan and high breeding rate in captive settings.
The post-doc project
The goal of this post-doc project will be to use behavioural and cognitive measures in captive mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus) in order (1) to quantify how they are affected byshort- and long-lasting changes in the environment such as repeated handling or food enrichment, (2) to validate indicators of emotional state, as proxies of well-being in this small primate species such as facial expressions or latency of response in a cognitive bias test and (3) to identify individual profiles of response to environmental changes according to individual characteristics such as age, sex or personality.
The candidate will use a combination of behavioural observations and cognitive testing to produce an integrative understanding of the effect of environmental changes on emotional state in mouse lemurs. Data will be collected at the Mouse lemur platform (UMR 7179 MECADEV CNRS-MNHN), which hosts the biggest mouse lemur breeding colony ever created (450 individuals originating from Malagasy wild animals imported in the early 1970’s).
The position
The position will be fully funded by UMR 7206 - MNHN for 12 months (Sorbonne Université Emergence grant). This post-doctoral fellow will be supervised by Audrey Maille (“Eco-anthropology” Lab), Fabienne Aujard, Caroline Gilbert and Emmanuelle Pouydebat (“Adaptive Mechanisms and Evolution” lab).
The post-doctoral fellow will be based at both the Musée de l’Homme (Paris) and the mouse lemur platform located in Brunoy, Essonne, France, a suburban townconnected to Paris with public train (45 minutes trip).
Attendance to one or two scientific conferences maybe scheduled in agreement with the post-doc fellow.
Desired profile
We are looking for candidates with a strong background in animal behaviour and cognitive studies. As the project will involve an important experimental component, the candidates would ideally have a good working knowledge of statistics and experimental design. Experience in personality analyses would be a plus.
Candidates must be creative, motivated and passionate about science, have excellent oral and written communication skills, and be at ease working both independently and as part of a team. A PhD will be required prior to taking up the position.
The dead line for application submission is April 1st 2020, for a hiring date to be negotiated between May and September. Candidates will provide a short letter of motivation tailored to the research project, and curriculum vitae including names and contact details of at least twoscientific references. For queries on the application process, please contact audrey.maille@mnhn.fr
Research topic
As ethical concerns about the use of animals in research become more complex and urgent, it is especially timely to further develop scientifically-based guidelines for improving experimental practices, which can only be done after a proper scientific evaluation of well-being in laboratory animals. Animal well-being isoften defined as “a state of complete mental and physical health, where the animal is in harmony with its environment”. Animal well-being is thus considered to be reached when physiological and psychological needs are satisfied. Because subjective emotional experiences are not measurable in animals, assessing animal wellbeing requires the identification of reliable indicators, including behavioural indicators. To identify reliable indicators of well-being, one efficient approach is to analyse the animal responses to any experimental procedure or changes in husbandry management (for example, social isolation, feeding schedule, handling protocols). However, animal responses to environmental changes may depend on the nature, duration and frequency of the environmental disruption on one hand, and on individual characteristics, such as species, age, sex, personality and morphology on the other hand. As a consequence, it is necessary to assess the emotional responses to these environmental changes in order to conclude on their impact on animal well-being. The use of nonhuman primates in research is becoming an increasing topic of public and scientific because of close proximitywith the human species.
The objective of this project is to empirically evaluate well-being in the common mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus), a small primates species which is often used as animal model in scientific research because of small size, short lifespan and high breeding rate in captive settings.
The post-doc project
The goal of this post-doc project will be to use behavioural and cognitive measures in captive mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus) in order (1) to quantify how they are affected byshort- and long-lasting changes in the environment such as repeated handling or food enrichment, (2) to validate indicators of emotional state, as proxies of well-being in this small primate species such as facial expressions or latency of response in a cognitive bias test and (3) to identify individual profiles of response to environmental changes according to individual characteristics such as age, sex or personality.
The candidate will use a combination of behavioural observations and cognitive testing to produce an integrative understanding of the effect of environmental changes on emotional state in mouse lemurs. Data will be collected at the Mouse lemur platform (UMR 7179 MECADEV CNRS-MNHN), which hosts the biggest mouse lemur breeding colony ever created (450 individuals originating from Malagasy wild animals imported in the early 1970’s).
The position
The position will be fully funded by UMR 7206 - MNHN for 12 months (Sorbonne Université Emergence grant). This post-doctoral fellow will be supervised by Audrey Maille (“Eco-anthropology” Lab), Fabienne Aujard, Caroline Gilbert and Emmanuelle Pouydebat (“Adaptive Mechanisms and Evolution” lab).
The post-doctoral fellow will be based at both the Musée de l’Homme (Paris) and the mouse lemur platform located in Brunoy, Essonne, France, a suburban townconnected to Paris with public train (45 minutes trip).
Attendance to one or two scientific conferences maybe scheduled in agreement with the post-doc fellow.
Desired profile
We are looking for candidates with a strong background in animal behaviour and cognitive studies. As the project will involve an important experimental component, the candidates would ideally have a good working knowledge of statistics and experimental design. Experience in personality analyses would be a plus.
Candidates must be creative, motivated and passionate about science, have excellent oral and written communication skills, and be at ease working both independently and as part of a team. A PhD will be required prior to taking up the position.
The dead line for application submission is April 1st 2020, for a hiring date to be negotiated between May and September. Candidates will provide a short letter of motivation tailored to the research project, and curriculum vitae including names and contact details of at least twoscientific references. For queries on the application process, please contact audrey.maille@mnhn.fr