The Université de Namur, Belgium, is searching for a PhD student in community-level stress ecology.

The position would start in October 2016. The project is a collaboration with Eawag (Switserland) and the University of Landau. The position is for four years, with an evaluation and go/no-go decision after two years. Application deadline is May 1st.

Description:
This project will test if coexistence theory can be used to predict the response of plankton community composition to environmental stressors. To this end, we will generate theoretical predictions with models and verify them in microcosms. We will also compare the consequences of community shifts for biovolume production and compare these with other effects environmental stressors may have on production. This project will be carried out at the environmental ecosystem ecology lab at Namur, in close collaboration with Eawag (Switserland) and the university of Landau (Germany). The PhD candidate will be trained in working with plankton cosms and mathematical modelling. As of end September 2016, applicants should hold a Master in Biology, Bioscience engineering, Mathematics, or Physics and those with a background in modelling or statistics are preferred. Interested? Send your cv and a 1p motivation letter in English to frederik.delaender@unamur.be before May 1st, 2016.