PhD position: Collective and Ecological Dynamics of Savanna Herbivore Communities

 INTERDISCIPLINARY PHD POSITION

WildBotics DC9: Collective and Ecological Dynamics of Savanna Herbivore Communities

We seek candidates for a PhD position based in the Department of Biology and the Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour at the University of Konstanz, Germany. The position is fully funded for 4 years, with a desired start date of September 1, 2026.

THE WILDBOTICS NETWORK

This PhD position is part of WildBotics, an EU-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network (MSCA-DN). The network brings together partner organizations across Europe and Africa to train 12 interdisciplinary Doctoral Candidates (DCs) who collaborate to develop effective and reusable robotics technologies and computational tools for biodiversity monitoring and nature conservation.

WildBotics is structured around three themes:

• Theme 1: Robot system design for nature conservation
• Theme 2: Autonomy, perception and AI for complex natural environments
• Theme 3: Analysis of large, sample-based datasets for wildlife ecology and biodiversity conservation

This position falls under Theme 3, although the successful candidate will also be expected to collaborate with students in Themes 1 and 2.

The candidate will participate in network-wide meetings, training events and field trips hosted by WildBotics partner organizations.

THE PROJECT (DC9)

The PhD candidate will conduct research combining field studies of individual and collective behavior of African elephants and/or mixed-species ungulate communities in Kenya with insights derived from fecal datasets.

The project provides substantial flexibility, allowing the candidate to shape the research direction according to focal species and behavioral questions of interest.

Close partnerships with the Kenya Wildlife Research and Training Institute (WRTI) and the Mara Elephant Project (MEP) provide opportunities for collaboration on topics including:

• Wildlife and livestock epidemiology
• African elephant conservation
• Community and ecosystem dynamics

The candidate will also collaborate with other WildBotics doctoral candidates (e.g. DC1 and DC3) to support development of aerial and terrestrial robotic systems for fecal sample collection in challenging field environments, including image datasets for detection of defecation events and fecal samples.

The project will be supervised by Prof. Dr. Iain Couzin in collaboration with Dr. Blair Costelloe.

WE OFFER

• Membership in the WildBotics Doctoral Network
• Integration into the interdisciplinary research community at the Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behavior at the University of Konstanz
• Access to the wider Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior community
• Optional enrollment in the International Max Planck Research School for Quantitative Behavior, Ecology & Evolution (IMPRS-QBEE)
• Salary, research funding, training support, and participation in network events

YOUR QUALIFICATIONS

We seek a curious and motivated candidate with interests in:

• Animal behavioural ecology
• Collective dynamics
• Disease ecology
• Wildlife conservation
• Related disciplines

Candidates should demonstrate research potential through:

• MSc thesis work
• Publications
• Code repositories
• Conference presentations
• Outreach activities

Strong quantitative literacy, programming skills, and experience with large datasets are advantageous.

Candidates should be willing to:

• Conduct fieldwork independently in Kenya
• Travel to partner institutions for events and secondments

Additional advantageous experience:

• Ecological or behavioural fieldwork
• Computer vision
• Machine learning
• Statistical or ecological modelling
• Analysis of large behavioural datasets
• Biological sample collection or processing
• International or interdisciplinary research experience
• Valid driver's license

We do not expect candidates to meet all criteria and strongly encourage applications from candidates meeting only part of these qualifications.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Candidates must satisfy MSCA-DN Early-Stage Researcher rules:

• No PhD degree
• Less than 4 years of full-time equivalent research experience after the qualifying degree

Candidates must also satisfy the MSCA mobility rule:

• Applicants cannot have spent more than 12 months during the previous 36 months residing or carrying out their primary activity in Germany.

The working language is English.

Required:
• Strong spoken and written English skills

Not required:
• German language proficiency

HOW TO APPLY

Send application materials to:

Katja Anderson
katja.anderson@uni-konstanz.de

Deadline: June 21, 2026

Subject line:
"WildBotics DC09 application"

Required documents:

1. Letter of motivation (max 3 pages)
2. CV or résumé
3. Academic transcripts/certificates
4. Scientific writing sample
5. Names and contact information of 2–3 references
6. Statement confirming compliance with the MSCA mobility rule

CONTACT

Prof. Dr. Iain Couzin
icouzin@ab.mpg.de

Dr. Blair Costelloe
blaircostelloe@gmail.com