A fully funded PhD scholarship is available for next year in my lab at Doñana Biological Station, Seville, Spain. The selection process to register for the PhD scholarship follows a national schedule, starting at the end of October. Pre-selections are now open, until 25 Oct 2022. Direct applications will remain open until the national scholarship call ends (~ mid November).
This PhD project, about prenatal acoustic communication and avian heat adaptation, will suit students with an interest in physiology and/or bio-acoustics, who have or will have completed their Master degree by mid-2023.
PhD scholarship – starting mid-2023
First round of application closes late Oct 2022
Avian thermoregulation
& prenatal acoustic communication
with Dr Mylene Mariette
Doñana Biological Station - Spanish Research Council EBD-CSIC
Seville, Spain
We are seeking a highly motivated PhD candidate with an interest in avian physiology, bio-acoustics
and behavioural ecology. This PhD project is part of a larger project funded by the Spanish Ministry of
Science and Innovation to Mylene Mariette on prenatal acoustic communication and thermoregulation
in birds.
We have discovered that incubating zebra finch parents warn their embryos about hot weather by uttering
“heat-calls”, and that this acoustic signal adaptively prepares offspring for hot environments (e.g.
Mariette & Buchanan 2016 Science; Udino et al. 2021 Proc Roy Soc). The aim of this PhD project is to
explore how heat-call prevalence relates to thermoregulation strategies and reproduction.
This PhD position is fully-funded, for 4 years, at the Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD) in Seville,
Spain. The application deadline for pre-assessment is 25 Oct 2022, followed by an official application
procedure through the Ministry web portal. Direct applications to the Ministry will be possible until the
call closes (date TBA; more information below). The PhD start date will be mid-2023. Current Master
students finishing in the first half of 2023 are eligible to apply.
The PhD Project: Climate change is threatening biodiversity, but whether species may have the
capacity to develop strategies to partly mitigate its impact is broadly unknown. Thermoregulation
capacity in the heat is likely key, and yet much of the variation between species and individuals remains
to be explained. We have recently found that zebra finches’ heat calls are produced through a special
form of panting, called “vocal panting” (Pessato et al 2020 Sci Rep), which brings thermoregulatory
benefits to the emitter. The PhD project will aim to understand the broad fitness consequences of vocal
panting, and how it affects thermoregulation capacity and heat tolerance, behaviour, and reproductive
output. The student responsibilities will include carrying out respirometry measurements, as well as
behavioural observations, breeding monitoring, playback experiments, and analyses of vocalisations, in
wild and captive birds, in Europe and Australia. Although the PhD project has clear aims to meet the
grant objectives, the student will have the opportunity to develop some parts of the project over others,
according to his/her own interests.
For further description on the research group & recent relevant publications, please see:
https://mylenemariette.wordpress.com/
The Research Environment: The PhD student will be based at the Doñana Biological Station EBDCSIC (http://www.ebd.csic.es/inicio) in Seville. This beautiful and lively city is in southern Spain, right
next to Doñana National Park. The EBD hosts over 40 researchers working in conservation, ecology and
evolution, as well as many post-docs, PhD students and undergraduate students. EBD also has strong
research connections with the University of Seville and Pablo de Olavide University Sevilla. The EBD
has excellent facilities and research support, as well as weekly seminars and activities, fostering a lively
research culture.
Eligibility and Selection criteria: The project would suit a highly motivated, reliable and capable
student with strong interests in avian physiology, bioacoustics, and heat adaptation. Essential
requirements include: a BSc/Licenciatura and an ongoing or completed Masters (or equivalent); good
analytical and computer skills; high competence in written and spoken English, including for scientific
communication; adaptability and an ability to work independently and as part of a team. After training,
the student needs to be able to take on the collection and analyses of metabolic and acoustic data
independently. Applicants with experience in these fields will be favoured. Knowledge of Spanish is not
essential but will be an advantage, particularly to handle administrative tasks, which will be in Spanish
(as well as the scholarship call itself). The ability to work remotely will also be a plus, in addition to an
interest in potentially working abroad. Background knowledge in experimental design, or previous field
or laboratory experience, is desirable but not necessary. Applicants will also need to meet the eligibility
criteria described in the call (see next section).
Application process: The scholarship call by the “Ministerio de Ciencias e Inovación” has not been
published yet, but it is expected to open late October, for ~3 weeks. Please check frequently
https://www.csic.es/es/formacion-y-empleo/formacion-de-personal-investigador, and also the
information from the Ministry ( https://www.aei.gob.es/convocatorias/buscador-convocatorias/ayudascontratos-predoctorales-formacion-doctores-2021 ). In the meantime, prospective applicants are
strongly encouraged to send their full application by 25/10/2022 to Mylene Mariette for assessment,
and interviews late October. Direct applicants after that date are also encouraged to get in touch.
Applications should include in a single PDF file: i) a statement of their interest in the project, ii) a
detailed CV and iii) contact information for two referees. Once the administrative application opens, the
candidate will need to lodge their application following the call guidelines.
For further information or to apply, please contact Mylene Mariette (m.mariette@deakin.edu.au).
Mariette M.M. & Buchanan K.L. (2016). Prenatal acoustic communication programs offspring for high ambient temperatures
in a songbird. Science. 353: 812-814; Udino et al (2021). Prenatal acoustic programming of mitochondrial function for high
temperatures in an arid-adapted bird. Proc Roy Soc B 288, 20211893; Pessato A., McKechnie A. E., Buchanan K. L., &
Mariette, M. M. (2020). Vocal panting: a novel thermoregulatory mechanism for enhancing heat tolerance in a desert-adapted
bird. Scientific Reports, 10(1). doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-75909-6