PhD Position in Biogeography and Evolution of Vertebrates Research Group: Biogeography and Evolution (Antonin Machac) Department of Ecology, Charles University, Prague
https://machac.weebly.com https://natur.cuni.cz/en/biology/departments-and-work-places/department-of- ecology Deadline: April 10, 2025 How did the diversity of life on Earth emerge? The successful candidate will address this fundamental question by analyzing the fascinating biodiversity of mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles (approx. 30,000 species), integrating their phylogenies, maps and traits, to uncover the general principles that govern the evolution of vertebrate biodiversity. The candidate will work independently but also in close collaboration with our team and research partners internationally (ETH Switzerland, S-BiK Frankfurt, UBC Vancouver, CMEC Copenhagen). This PhD topic will be addressed using modern statistics, making the student highly qualified after graduation for work within academia and in private companies. The PhD position is funded by the Czech Science Foundation and further supplemented by the university scholarship. It builds on a large-scale vertebrate dataset and covers multiple pre-defined themes, which can be tailored to the specific interests of the PhD candidate. The collaborations, the pre-defined and the tailored themes will ensure secure dissertation research but also opportunities for high risk/high gain results. *** PhD involves - doctoral studies at Charles University in Prague (Department of Ecology), which belongs to the leading research institutions in the Czech Republic. The Department is situated in the historical center of Prague, one of the world's most beautiful and monumental cities - study of global vertebrate biodiversity (mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles) - integrating molecular phylogenies, geographic maps and species traits to uncover the processes that generated biodiversity around the world and over time - addressing fundamental questions about the evolution of biodiversity, using modern statistics (regression analyses, GIS geographic information systems, phylogenetic comparative methods, implemented in R) *** We offer - friendly, creative and supportive environment of a large international team - membership in the diverse international PhD student community at Charles University - competitive salary (composed of 4-year PhD scholarship, doubled for 2.5 years through a research grant) sufficient to comfortably cover living costs in Prague (will be discussed at the interview) - interdisciplinary experience through national (Petr Baldrian, David Storch, Center for Theoretical Studies, IMIC) and international collaborations (ETH Zurich, Univ Copenhagen), including fully funded opportunities to attend international conferences - fully covered health insurance and contribution to the social security system - support for establishment of foreign students via the Staff Welcome Center of the University *** We require - strong motivation to pursue interdisciplinary research at the interface of evolution, ecology, and statistics - MSc degree in biology or related fields (in early fall 2025 at the latest) - good spoken and written English, communication at the Department is fully in English *** Desirable but not required - experience with quantitative methods, R programming, GIS - background in phylogeny-based research - experience with presenting and publishing research Please submit (1) your CV, (2) one-page motivation letter, (3) contact information for one reference to Antonin Machac (a.mac...@email.cz) with "PhD Student Position 2025" in the subject line. Review of applicants will begin on April 10, 2025, and continue until the position has been filled. The first round of online interviews with pre-selected applicants will take place on April 15, 2025. The successful candidate will be assisted in submitting their PhD application to the university. The exact start date is negotiable. You can find more on the website: https://machac.weebly.com To unsubscribe from this list please go to https://community.esa.org/confirm/?u=RhPWqPxFwODKvbkiT32nkIqRrsiSgulp
