The DFG-funded Research Training Group RTG 2118 ‘Integrating Biodiversity Research with Movement Ecology in Dynamic Agricultural Landscapes [BioMove]’ (Speaker: Prof. Dr. Florian Jeltsch) at the University of Potsdam (UP), the Freie Universität Berlin (FU), the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW, Berlin), and the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF, Müncheberg) offers several positions:

At the University of Potsdam

7 doctoral candidates (PhD)
- Intra-specific trait variation in movement behaviour as mechanisms for species coexistence
- Mobile link functions in unpredictable agricultural landscapes
- Indirect, tri-trophic Effects of Fear on Biodiversity
- Obstacles to plant gene-flow across an agricultural landscape: habitat filtering and recruitment limitation vs. dispersal limitation
- Stabilizing biodiversity by zooplankton dispersal through space and time
- Zooplankton dispersal and colonization in a meta-community pond system
- From individual home-range formation to community dynamics: a novel, allometric modelling approach to explore biodiversity loss caused by landscape changes

Registration Number: 225/2018

26 hours per week (65%) for three years

The salary scale is in accordance with the German public service 13 TV-L (area east). Contracts are time-limited according to Section 2 subsection 1 of the Academic Fixed-Term Contract Law (WissZeitVG).

Under the laws of the federal state of Brandenburg, employees under this contract are permitted to dedicate at least 33% of their contract time for their scientific qualification.

At the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW), Berlin

2 doctoral candidates (PhD)
- Pathogen evolution in changing landscapes
- Equalizing and stabilizing mechanisms in regulating the co-existence of aerial-hawking bat species in agricultural landscape

Salary is according to TVöD Bund (25,35 hours per week 65%), 3-year contract.

At the Freie Universität Berlin

1 doctoral candidate (PhD)
-Tradeoffs between growth rate, attachment and competitiveness as a source of equalizing effects in nectar yeast communities

Salary is according to TV-L FU E13 (65%), 3-year contract.

At the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) Müncheberg

1 doctoral candidate (PhD)
- Trade-offs between dispersal ability and niche competition of co-occurring microorganisms in the phyllosphere of host plants

26 hours per week (65%) for three years

The salary is in accordance with the German public service 13 TV-L (area east). Contracts are time-limited according to the Academic Fixed-Term Contract Law (WissZeitVG).

All positions begin on October 1st, 2018.

BioMove links innovative individual research projects that overcome the apparent gap between movement ecology and biodiversity research, employing a joint conceptual framework. It strategically combines empirical, experimental and modelling approaches to advance our mechanistic understanding of how biodiversity patterns emerge and how they feed back on the active and passive movement of organisms. This will improve our ability to predict biodiversity responses to ongoing changes in land use or climate. Projects cover different spatial and temporal scales and groups of organisms ranging from bacteria, fungi, plankton, plants, and insects to birds and mammals (for more details see http://www.biomove.org).

Doctoral candidates will also strongly profit from a unique qualification program specifically tailored to bridge between state-of-the-art concepts and methods in movement ecology and biodiversity research, supplemented by a broad range of soft skill workshops.

Candidates should fulfill the following requirements:

• A very good M.Sc. degree (or equivalent) in Ecology, Zoology, Botany, Conservation, Behavioural or Evolutionary Biology, Microbiology, Epidemiology (or other natural sciences if mechanistic modelling was involved). Candidates that have not yet finished their Master thesis can submit a current and informative study record.
• Very good English skills (written and spoken)
• Very good statistical and analytical skills (preferentially sound knowledge in R)
• Experience in one or more of the following areas is expected: experimental field and laboratory studies, mathematical or computer simulation modelling, telemetry, molecular ecology.
• A strong interest in interdisciplinary research and the willingness to engage in scientific exchange with other disciplines is essential for applicants.

The University of Potsdam, the Freie Universität Berlin, the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research and the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research strives to maintain gender balance among its staff. Severely disabled applicants shall receive preference in case of equal qualifications. We expressly invite applications from people with migration backgrounds.

Detailed information on the application process, the research topics with their specific tasks and the training program are available at http://www.biomove.org. Candidates are required to indicate up to three preferred projects and explain their motivation for choosing them. Short-listed candidates will be invited to an application symposium on June 21./22. in Potsdam.

Please send your application in electronic form by June 1, 2018 to the RTG coordination office (biomove-rtg@uni-potsdam.de). Applicants should follow the information and instructions given at https://www.biomove.org/phd-vacancies-2018/

For further information please contact biomove-rtg@uni-potsdam.de.