Applications are invited for the following PhD projects. These full time,
three-year positions are fully funded by Microsoft Research and come with
supplementary resources for travel and other expenses, plus a laptop. All
students will be located primarily at the university listed with the
project. However, students will be co-supervised by a scientist from the
Computational Ecology and Environmental Science Group, Microsoft Research
Cambridge (UK), and so are likely to make regular visits to Cambridge. In
addition, students will have the opportunity to apply for one or more paid
internships at Microsoft Research Cambridge, to be carried out during the
course of the PhD. Additional information about each project is given below.
For further information regarding any project, please email any of the
supervisors listed below. Please note that, as a result of differential
tuition fees, projects at UK universities are open to EU / UK applicants
only.

Unifying food web structure and dynamics with metabolic theory: a general,
modular computational approach
Supervisor: Dr Daniel Reuman, Imperial College, London
(d.reuman@imperial.ac.uk)
Location: Silwood Park, Imperial College, London
MSR Supervisor: Dr Rich Williams (ricw@microsoft.com)

The other half of the equation: global variation in tree mortality
Supervisor: Prof. Oliver Phillips (o.phillips@leeds.ac.uk), Prof. Simon
Lewis (s.l.lewis@leeds.ac.uk), Dr Emanuel Gloor (e.gloor@leeds.ac.uk),
University of Leeds
Location: School of Geography, University of Leeds
MSR supervisor: Dr Drew Purves (dpurves@microsoft.com)

A data-constrained predictive model of tropical deforestation and resultant
carbon emissions (2 positions)
Supervisor: Dr Rob Ewers, Imperial College, London (r.ewers@imperial.ac.uk)
Location: Silwood Park, Imperial College, London
MSR Supervisor: Dr Drew Purves (dpurves@nmicrosoft.com)
Funding note: these 2 positions are co-funded by Microsoft Research and the
Grantham Institute for Climate Change, an Institute of Imperial College.

Data-constrained modelling of plant growth
Supervisor: Dr Lindsay Turnbull, University of Zurich
(lindsayt@uwinst.uzh.ch)
Location: Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Zurich
MSR Supervisor: Dr Drew Purves (dpurves@microsoft.com)

Modelling global plant biodiversity
Supervisors: Dr David Coomes, Cambridge University
(dac18@plantsci.cam.ac.uk) & Dr Neil Brummitt, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
(n.brummitt@kew.org)
Location: Cambridge University
MSR Supervisor: Dr Matthew Smith (mattsmi@microsoft.com)

Pattern and process at forest boundaries
Supervisor: Prof. Kevin Gaston, Univ. Sheffield (k.j.gaston@sheffield.ac.uk)
MSR Supervisors: Dr Greg McInerny and Dr Drew Purves (gregmci@microsoft.com;
dpurves@microsoft.com)

The form and function of dynamic sociality in a wild bird population
Supervisors: Prof. B Sheldon (ben.sheldon@zoo.ox.ac.uk), Dr T. Wilkin
(teddy.wilkin@zoo.ox.ac.uk), Prof. S Roberts
(stephen.roberts@some.ox.ac.uk), University of Oxford
Location: Dept. Zoology, University of Oxford
MSR Supervisor: Dr Robin Freeman (robin.freeman@live.co.uk)