(Note: this opportunity is now closed.)
There is an exciting opportunity to join my lab as a Scientia PhD student, studying traits and species distributions in relation to climate change.
We have been lucky enough to have been awarded one of UNSW’s prestigious Scientia PhD scholarships. These come with 40k p.a. stipend (tax free) and $$10k p.a. of research funding for a full 4 years (compared to the standard Australian offer of $25k p.a. for 3 years). The position is open to both Australian and international applicants. The topic is broad intentionally to attract an outstanding student:
“Climate change is impacting ecosystems worldwide. Many plant and animal species will not survive unless their distributions shift. However, not all species are moving and we don’t systematically understand why. This is a key challenge for understanding climate impact. In this project students will tackle important knowledge gaps: Can we use functional traits to predict species’ ability to shift distributions? Which biotic and abiotic factors are important in determining species range? Do different processes act at northern vs southern limits? And, are distributions shaped by extreme climate events, or by the average conditions at a site? We will tackle a range of questions relating to climate change using phylogenetic comparative methods, meta-analysis and computational modelling (our supervisor team members are experts in these areas)."”
Given the generous stipend and project funding, applicants are expected to be very competitive. We expect an applicant to have at least one peer-reviewed publication or an equivalent publication or experience which demonstrate their outstanding abilities.
Supervisory team:
If you would like to be considered, send your CV, cover letter, and contact information to three references to Vera Banschikoff — v.banschikoff@unsw.edu.au — by 18 June 2017. For more details check out the university’s page on the program.