2 Fully funded PhD projects

 We are recruiting for 2 PhD positions at Queen's University Belfast!

1. BETWEEN COOPERATION AND CONFLICT – THE EVOLUTION OF THE MAMMALIAN PLACENTA

Supervisor: Dr Isabella Capellini (I.Capellini[AT]qub.ac.uk)

Summary: 

The placenta is essential to mammalian reproduction and it is surprisingly the most diverse organ in this group. However, we still have a limited understanding about how and why such diversity has evolved; what implications this has for nutrient transfer, maternal investment and offspring growth; and what genes underpin its diversity.

The influential conflict hypothesis proposes that, while the placenta clearly reflects cooperation between mother and offspring, its astonishing diversity is likely the result of an evolutionary arms-race between mother and fetus over the allocation of maternal resources. Under this hypothesis, the placenta is the battleground of a conflict fought through chemical communication and influenced by paternal genes. The degree of relatedness between siblings in a litter has the potential to further exacerbate this conflict. The conflict hypothesis has received some support but remains largely untested as are alternative hypotheses suggesting a role for natural selection. Finally, while several genes have been identified that contribute to placental development, it is unknown which genes have driven, and can help explain, diversity in placental morphology.

Building on our successful comparative approach that demonstrated how placental diversity coevolved with key life history traits, such as gestation time, the student on this project will:

1. Test whether the parent-offspring conflict explains placental diversity;

2. Test whether mating system explains placental diversity;

3. Test whether natural selection drives placental evolution;

4. Investigate the correlated evolution between placental morphology and genes.

The student will receive training in assembling and managing large scale datasets of placental morphology, behaviour and genes from the literature and in using cutting-edge phylogenetic comparative approaches to test the hypotheses.

To apply: https://www.gla.ac.uk/colleges/mvls/graduateschool/northwestbio/apply/

DEADLINE: Friday 17th of March 2023

2. Investigating the effect of parent-offspring conflict on social organisation, growth and stress in free-ranging fallow deer fawns

Supervisor: Dr Domhnall Jennings (D.Jennings[AT]qub.ac.uk)

Summary: 

While parents and offspring co-operate to ensure offspring survival, they also disagree on the amounts of resources (food, shelter, protection from predation) that parents should provide. This disparity drives conflict between parental resource allocation versus offspring demands. However, little is known about how the intensity of this conflict varies among individual parents and why; whether and the extent to which offspring differ in their response to this conflict, and the strategies they use to mitigate any negative effects of low parental investment; how this conflict affects offspring growth and survival. 

This project investigates how, at the behavioural level, maternal investment and the conflict over parental investment influences offspring growth and survival in fallow deer. Thus, it focuses directly on individual fitness from the perspective of the parent in terms of prior, and current versus future reproduction, while also focusing on the offspring as it attempts to mitigate any deleterious effects of low or variable parental investment.  

For further information: https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/investigating-the-effect-of-parent-offspring-conflict-on-social-organisation-growth-and-stress-in-free-ranging-fallow-deer-fawns/?p155178

Deadline: Friday 10th of March 2023