PhD position “Drivers and consequences of paternal care in wild macaques” (all genders welcome)
The German Primate Center (DPZ) - Leibniz Institute for Primate Research is one of 97 research and infrastructure establishments of the Leibniz Association. It conducts basic biological and biomedical research in all fields in which non-human primates play essential roles: in particular in infection research, the neurosciences and organismic primate biology. Besides its research infrastructure in Göttingen the DPZ maintains four field stations to do research on and with primates.
The Primate Social Evolution Group at the German Primate Center (DPZ) and the Behavioral Ecology Department at Georg-August University Göttingen offer a
PhD position “Drivers and consequences of paternal care in wild macaques” (all genders welcome)
This is a 65% position (payment E13 TV-L) for 36 months. The earliest starting time for this position is May 1st, 2023. In this project, we aim to understand the drivers and outcomes of male care for young in a promiscuous system of wild macaques. More specifically, we will investigate the benefits males reap from care for young, the tradeoff between mating and parenting effort, and the fitness consequences of care for the offspring. You will combine long-term behavioral data from our study population of wild Assamese macaques at Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand, with genetic analyses of relatedness from non-invasive samples. You will be enrolled in a graduate program of the University of Göttingen, e.g. Behavior and Cognition (http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/217295.html).
Your profile:
- Masters of Science degree in Biology (or comparable)
- field research experience, particularly with behavioral studies on vertebrates, preferably monkeys
- lab experience with DNA amplicon sequencing
- experience in the analysis of genetic relatedness in highly structured populations
- strong statistical skills, ideally experience in the analysis of social interaction data
- excellent communication skills, ability to work in a team, commitment, flexibility, and reliability
- very good command of English including scientific writing
- ability to work independently and highly accurate
- physical fitness, capable of working under demanding conditions in the tropics
We offer a pleasant work environment, modern work equipment, flexible and family-friendly working hours.
The employment at the DPZ follows the applied regulations of civil service. The classification follows the TV-L and a VBL pension provision. Applicants with disabilities and equal qualifications will be given preferential consideration. We kindly ask you to indicate any disabilities in your application.
Please send your application as a single pdf including a cover letter, CV, all certificates, and contact information of two referees until 30.11.2022 under the key word “PhD Male Care” to Deutsches Primatenzentrum GmbH – Leibniz Institut für Primatenforschung – Personnel Office – Kellnerweg 4 – 37077 Göttingen or via mail to bewerbung(at)dpz.eu.
For further information please contact Prof. Dr. Julia Ostner, jostner@gwdg.de, phone: +49 (0)551-3933925.
For more information about the Leibniz Association see www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de.