4 Doctoral Positions : “Biodiversity and plant-insect interactions in large-scale and long-term land-use gradients”
Rationale
Changes in land use and its intensity are major determinants of biodiversity, but large-scale and long-term research is rare. Four PhD positions are available in the context of a multidisciplinary research initiative (DFG-SPP 1374) titled "Biodiversity Exploratories" to study the impact of land-use intensification on biodiversity and ecosystem processes on altogether 300 grassland and forest sites from three German regions (Biosphere Reserve "Schorfheide-Chorin", Hainich National Park, Biosphere Reserve "Schwäbische Alb"). The successful candidates will experimentally analyze effects of land-use intensification on plants, pollinators, herbivores (including butterflies) and their natural enemies in both grassland and forest habitats. For the study regions and details of the overall project see www.biodiversity-exploratories.de/project-aims.
Main topics of the four doctoral positions: (1) Multitrophic plant-butterfly interactions; (2) Bees, wasps and their natural enemies in standardized trap nests; (3) Multitrophic plant-insect interactions on herbs; (4) Pollination and seed set in herbs
(see recent publications under http://wwwuser.gwdg.de/~uaoe/Agroecology.html and
http://www.old.uni-bayreuth.de/departments/toek1/populationsoek/englisch/
The PhD students will be located in Germany at the University of Göttingen or the University of Bayreuth.
).Requirements
MSc or Diploma degree in biology, agriculture or related disciplines. Knowledge in plant-insect interactions, insect communities and statistics is desirable. Interest in independent research and team work.
Salary and conditions
Salary is ca. 1100 Euro per month (TVL 13/2). Start date: as soon as possible (e.g., March 1, 2008). The positions are for three years each. The doctoral thesis will be done as a series of English manuscripts.
Applications
Applicants should send their CV per email, at the latest
January 20, 2008, including certificates, a short summary of research interests, and the names (with email address) of two referees to all project coordinators (see addresses below).For further information, please contact
Prof. Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter (Ingolf.Steffan@uni-bayreuth.de), Dr. Catrin Westphal (catrin.westphal@uni-bayreuth.de), Dr. Christoph Scherber (christoph.scherber@agr.uni-goettingen.de), Prof. Teja Tscharntke (ttschar@gwdg.de), Dr. Alexandra M. Klein (aklein@nature.berkeley.edu) and Dr. Jochen Krauss (Jochen.Krauss@uni-bayreuth.de).
Agroecology, University of Göttingen Animal Ecology I, Populat