Job announcement
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Georg-August-University Goettingen, Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology

application deadline: not specified
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Within the framework of the DFG funded Project: "Genetic diversity of sexual and parthenogenetic soil arthropods (Oribatida and Collembola): importance of cryptic refugia" the Georg-August-University Goettingen offers

1 PhD position for molecular biologist/ecologist (m/f)

Phylogeography combines geographic and molecular data to infer past events and processes that shaped the distribution ranges of species. The consequences of the last ice ages on biodiversity of plants and animals have been studied for above-ground taxa. Soil-living arthropods have escaped the attention of phylogeographic studies, although they differ markedly in habitat conditions, ecology and feeding modes from above-ground taxa. This project investigates the genetic diversity of soil-living invertebrates with holarctic distributions, concentrating on a Europe-wide scale, and focuses on two questions:

(1) How did climatic change during the last ice age affect soil-living arthropods.
(2) Did parthenogenetic taxa have a re-colonisation advantage over sexual taxa.

The candidate will concentrate on four species of springtails (Collembola, Hexapoda), two parthenogenetic and two sexual taxa, and investigate genetic diversity by sequencing and analysing the COI gene, a common genetic marker for phylogeography. Results will be integrated in a phylogeographic, population genetic, ecological and evolutionary context. The applicant should hold a master or diploma certificate in biology, genetics or related fields, have expertise in molecular techniques and should be familiar with bioinformatic tools for sequence analysis. Experience in determination of insects and interest in entomology is beneficial. The candidate should also be enthusiastic to get acquainted to new software programs on own initiative.

The PhD position is a 3 year appointment. Salary will be according to the civil service level TVL A13 - 65%. Women are explicitly encouraged to apply, physically handicapped persons will be favoured if equally qualified. Application assessment will start immediately and the advertisements remain open until the positions are filled.

The position is open from 1st of October 2010. Applications should be written in English and include personal information/background, a description of research interest (max. 1-2 pages), a complete CV and a description of undergraduate courses and sent by email to Prof. Dr. Stefan Scheu, sscheu@gwdg.de. For more information on the research group visit http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/107728.html.