Application Information
Applications should be accompanied by a cover letter including a statement of research interests and aspirations (not more than 3 pages), and a full CV.
About the role
We wish to appoint a postdoctoral research fellow to work on the NERC-funded project "Living at the edge: causes and consequences of individual variation in a changing world". The project studies the effects of landscape fragmentation on behaviour, physiology, morphology, life history and related traits (and their covariation) in a forest-living ground beetle species using individuals living at an edge of a habitat and those at a core. The project combines both experimental and correlative approaches and applies a wide range of methods in the field and laboratory. These range from enclosure experiments, translocations, radio-telemetry, and behavioural and physiological assays.
You will plan and execute fieldwork and lab-experiments, manage and analyse project data, write up manuscripts and present results at conferences and to the wider audience. You will be supervised by Dr Wiebke Schuett (Project Lead) and Prof Jeremy Niven (both School of Life Sciences) and will work closely with other research team members, including a research technician and a PhD student.
About you
You have a PhD in animal behaviour, ecology or an allied biological science. You are a highly motivated, talented, well-organised and meticulous person with strong skills in quantitative analysis, experience in behavioural observations and/or experimental design and excellent team-working ability. You have a background and demonstrable interest in one or more of behavioural ecology, insect physiology, evolution and/or ecology. It is advantageous if you have previous experience in collecting data in the field, physiological and/or parentage analyses, advanced statistical modelling using R, working with insects and/or on animal personality, and handling large data sets. Holding a driving license is desirable.
About our School
In the School of Life Sciences we strive to understand the mechanisms that drive biological and chemical processes and to develop innovative and diverse approaches to enhance human health, technology and the environment. We undertake multidisciplinary research, teaching and engagement across a wide range of subjects, from Chemistry through Cellular and Molecular Biosciences to Conservation Biology.
The School comprises five Departments: Biochemistry & Biomedicine, Genome Damage and Stability Centre, Neuroscience, Ecology & Evolution and Chemistry. We also house the Sussex Drug Discovery Centre which works to deliver the bench-to-bedside translation of our discoveries. The breadth and depth of our cutting-edge research and innovative teaching practice is delivered by a diverse community who work across boundaries to deliver excellence, engage with real world problems and produce impact.
We pride ourselves on our world-leading research and have a strong research economy, with approximately 50% of our income stemming from research and an active grant portfolio of over £50 million. We host or form part of three University Centres of Excellence: the Genome Damage and Stability Centre, Sussex Neuroscience and Sussex Sustainability Research Programme. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework, 90.6 % of our Biological Sciences outputs and 84.8% of our Chemistry outputs were rated as world-leading or internationally excellent. We are proud that in both areas, 100% of our Impact cases were rated as world-leading or internationally excellent.
The School is committed to the University's core values of kindness, integrity, inclusion, collaboration and courage. We believe that equality, diversity and inclusion is everyone's responsibility and aim to provide a friendly and supportive environment for all who work, study and visit the School of Life Sciences.
Why work here
Our university is situated off the A27, next to the beautiful South Downs where you will enjoy everything that our 150-acre campus has to offer. We are accessible by public transport; Falmer train station is a five-minute walk to campus and several bus stops are located within campus. We also have dedicated cycling paths and encourage our staff to use these with our offering of a cycle to work scheme.
Sussex is a renowned, multi-accredited, research-led International University and this is only possible because of the people that work here. Whether you are a member of Faculty, part of a Professional Services team or a Student, it's our people that make us great and we want you to be part of that.
Further Key Information
Please contact Dr Wiebke Schuett (she/her) (w.schuett@sussex.ac.uk) for informal enquiries.
The University is committed to equality and valuing diversity, and applications are particularly welcomed from women and black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine and Mathematics (STEMM) at Sussex.
Please note that this position may be subject to ATAS clearance if you require visa sponsorship.
The University requires that work undertaken for the University is performed in the UK.
Visa Sponsorship Queries: This role has been assigned an eligible SOC code, and meets the salary requirements for Skilled Worker Sponsorship if full time. Please consult our Skilled Worker Visa information page for further information about Visa Sponsorship.
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