PhD studentship University of Kent

PhD studentship

University of Kent -Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE)

School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent
RAD-sequencing and SNP genotyping to examine adaptation in globally invasive parakeets
Supervisors:
Dr Jim Groombridge (DICE), Dr Rob Ogden (WildGenes, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland), Dr Diederik Strubbe (University of Antwerp), Dr Ben Warren (University of Reunion), Dr Robert Prys-Jones (Natural History Museum)
Duration: 3 years                            
Type: PhD studentship
This PhD studentship will be based at the University of Kent and will be fully-funded by a grant from the John Spedan Lewis Foundation, with supervisory support from a research consortium of DICE, RZSS, UA, UR and NHM. Funding is available to cover Home/EU tuition fees, full stipend plus all research costs for the 3-year studentship.
The Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) at the University of Kent, in collaboration with RZSS, UA, UR and NHM, is offering an exciting PhD studentship and research opportunity for a motivated graduate. This research project aims to apply RAD-Tag sequencing and SNP genotyping techniques to identify genome-wide responses to changes in climate in ringneck parakeets as they have spread from their native range of the African and Indian continents into Europe. The ringneck parakeet is one of the World’s most invasive bird species. The success of their invasion is clear from the large population sizes now established in many of Europe’s major cities, including those in the UK, and their conquering of a substantial temperature gradient en route suggests they have adapted to their invasive range. Consequently, invasive parakeets provide an ideal scientific framework to examine how species evolve in response to environmental change and to identify the potential genetic basis for such adaptability and invasion success. Genetic data for some of the more extensively-sampled invasive populations, such as those in the UK which occur at the northern-most edge of their invasive range, will be combined with analysis of survey data to look for patterns of population expansion and introgression. This project will be based at the DICE conservation genetics laboratory (led by Dr. Jim Groombridge), with extended periods at the RZSS WildGenes laboratory in Edinburgh (led by Dr. Rob Ogden) for RAD library preparation, SNP discovery and population genotyping.
Application deadline: Wednesday 1^st May 2013  
Start Date: October 2013
Academic requirements: Applicants should have a First or Upper Second Class UK honours degree, or equivalent, in a relevant discipline such as bioinformatics, molecular ecology or evolutionary genetics. Knowledge/experience of bioinformatics and/or molecular laboratory techniques would be advantageous.
Funding: Available funding will cover the tuition fees (at the UK/EU rate only), full stipend and all research costs for this 3-year studentship project.
How to apply: Please send a CV (maximum 2-pages), a covering letter (maximum one page) and contact details for two references, by email to Dr Jim Groombridge (J.Groombridge@kent.ac.uk) via the 'Apply' button below on or before the closing date. Interviews will be held in early/mid May 2013, with a view to the successful applicant starting in October 2013.