MRes Studentship 18 months
Trade-offs in sexual selection and cognition
Why do individuals vary in their cognitive abilities? EVOECOCOG, an ERC
funded project, takes the disciplines of cognition and evolutionary
biology into a natural setting to answer this question. It aims to do
this by investigating a variety of proximate causes and population-level
consequences of individual cognitive variation using a great tit Parus
major population.
This MRes position will explore potential trade-offs between traits
involved in pre-copulatory and post-copulatory sexual selection and
their relationships with mating success and cognitive ability. The
student will perform laboratory analyses of sperm sampled from male
great tits in the breeding season to measure sperm quality and
viability, and then relate this to mating success by performing
paternity analysis using a newly purchased state-of-the-art DNA
sequencer. These measures will be compared to measures of signal quality
and cognitive ability to detect potential trade-offs among these traits.
The chosen study system, the great tit Parus major, is one of the most
widely used in Europe, and consists of 12 subpopulations across
deciduous and conifer woodland fragments in Co. Cork, Ireland. A recent
state of the art aviary is also available for experimental study at the
School of BEES.
This advert is for an 18 month MRes studentship. The successful student
will be based in the UCC Ornithology lab at the School of BEES
http://ornithology.ucc.ie. They will join a research team led by Prof.
John L. Quinn, consisting of 8 early career biologists working on this
project (see http://ornithology.ucc.ie/current-projects/evolutionary-
ecology-of-cognition/), a Research Support Officer, and a range of other
students and postdocs working on a variety of different projects in
behavioural and applied ecology. The studentships will be cosupervised
by Prof. J. Quinn and Dr Michael Reichert.
Candidates should possess a 2.1 BSc (Hons) degree or higher in a
relevant discipline (e.g. Ecology, Zoology, Evolution, Physiology,
Psychology). Applicants must be self-motivated with good numerical,
communication, organisational, experimental design, and writing skills.
Students with experience working under difficult conditions in the field
or with an MSc are likely to have a strong advantage. A full, clean
driving license will be important early in the MRes, and experience
working with birds in captivity or in the wild would also be
advantageous. A willingness to spend long periods of time in the field
in spring, and to travel and work across different research sites is
important. This position covers EU fee rates (5,750 p.a.; non-EU
members may apply but would need to cover extra international rate fees
themselves), plus a tax-free stipend of approx. 16,000 p.a.
Please direct informal inquiries to Prof. John L. Quinn at
[email protected]
Application: To apply please send by email to Prof. John Quinn,
[email protected] a CV, details of 2 referees, and an accompanying 1 page
letter. The letter should outline of your relevant experience,
explaining why you want the studentship.
Dates: Application deadline is 28 February 2018. Interviews will be held
in person or by Skype within 1 weeks. Start dates are 1 April 2018 or
sooner!
University College Cork is one of Irelands largest and most successful
universities and the studentships will be based at the School of BEES.
Currently there are 28 faculty, ca. 20 postdocs and 35 PhD students
across Zoology, Ecology, Plant Sciences and Geology. Cork is situated on
the south coast of Ireland, 2.5 hours from Dublin, is served by an
international airport, has a population of about 200,000, and is on the
doorstep of some of the most beautiful coastline in Europe.
John Quinn (Professor in Zoology & Head of Discipline), School of
Biological, Earth and Environmental Science (BEES), UCC, North Mall,
Cork, Ireland. T23 N73K
Tel (work): 00353-21-4904546 ; Tel (mobile): 00353-(0)852266122
Personal http://ornithology.ucc.ieSchool https://www.ucc.ie/en/bees/UCC
http://www.ucc.ie/en/
