Postdoctoral Research Associate
A 2-year postdoc is available co-supervised by myself and Dr Darren Evans. This project will be to use modern DNA techniques to investigate agricultural food webs, focussing especially on the interaction of parasitoid wasps with aphids and leaf miners. We are looking for someone who has proven ability in a molecular lab, with lots of experience of PCR, DNA barcoding, and DNA data analysis. The postdoc, guided by Darren Evans, will establish and maintain replicated field experiments (in collaboration with industrial partners) to examine how climate affects the structure and functioning of aphid-parasitoid and leafminer-parasitoid interaction networks. The postdoc will develop and extend the suite of molecular tools currently deployed to accurately determine parasitism rates and identity. This will provide the highly resolved data necessary for quantitative network construction and analysis.
We have successful pilot work using PCR assays of leaf-miner parasitism in wild populations. The postdoc would need to be experienced with sometimes difficult PCR, have an ability to refine and improve our molecular assays and develop the system. We also see having an ‘ecological brain’ as a tremendous asset. Although the work is largely molecular, the system itself is a powerful ecological network design, and a desire to learn these ecological approaches is essential. This is a full time position for a fixed term period of 24 months. The post holder will be strongly encouraged to develop fellowship applications to extend the project and appropriate mentoring will be available.
The project will investigate the impacts of climate change on farmland ecological networks. The post holder will use both novel molecular approaches and ecological networks to determine how climate-driven changes affect the ecosystem service of natural biocontrol. With an emphasis on how altered host-parasitoid interactions affect agricultural crop yields, the economic impacts of climate-driven changes will also be determined.
The successful candidate will join the interdisciplinary group of Drs. Darren Evans and Dave Lunt (Biological Sciences) and Dr. Jonathan Atkins (Hull University Business School, HUBS) as part of the University’s Centre for Adaptive Science and Sustainability (CASS). Salary range £30,870 – £35,789 pa, pro rata
The closing date for this position is 13 February 2012.
Informal enquiries can be made to myself (d.h.lunt@hull.ac.uk; 01482 465514) or Darren Evans (d.evans@hull.ac.uk; 01482 465514). You may apply online at the University of Hull jobs page quoting vacancy ref: FS0172
Fellowships
If you would like to apply for a NERC fellowship, Marie Curie fellowship, or have the possibility of a studentship, diplomarbeit etc I would welcome discussing you joining the lab. I am happy for you to develop your own project, though I do also have a number of projects developed which you could alter to your own taste, please email me if you would like to discuss. You might like to look at Research, Ongoing Projects, and Previous Projects pages.
MSc: If you have a strong undergraduate background, and are considering a self-funded MSc by research in bioinformatics, comparative genomics, molecular evolution or phylogenomics, I have several projects I could suggest for you to carry out. The Evolutionary Biology Group is an excellent place to study with a wide variety of other researchers with which to interact.
Research Fellows: The Department of Biological Sciences has a great track record of supporting research fellows, several of whom have gone on permanent positions within the Department. There are eight members of staff in the Evolutionary Biology Group and we hold weekly well-attended journal clubs, lab meetings (and of course coffee each day!). Our ‘Research fellow support package‘ will vary depending on your needs, but could include e.g. access to extensive molecular biology laboratories and equipment, a purpose built ancient DNA laboratory, temperature controlled growth rooms, very extensive freshwater and marine aquaria, bioinformatics laboratory. See Department of Biological Sciences Facilities. We will provide a personal mentor from the established academic staff and give you the opportunity to be involved in small amounts of undergraduate teaching if you wished (though it would not be required). Research fellows will be able to apply for internal research support funds each year, for small pilot projects leading to grant proposals, or similar.
Evolutionary Biology Group July 2011. From left to right: Jo Baker, Carla Olmo, Abdul Hamza, Marta Maccari, Chris Venditti, Africa Gomez, Lori Lawson Handley, Lesley Morrell, Steve Moss, Marlene Jahnke, Dave Lunt, Tom Mathers, Paul Nichols, Domino Joyce, Bernd Hanfling, Mark Culling, Dan Jeffries, Andrea Simon.
