PhD Studentship in Mathematical Ecology

*Postgraduate Opportunities in Ecology*

A PhD studentship in mathematical ecology is available within the Biodiversity Research Group at University College Cork, Ireland.

*Predicting the dynamical consequences of biodiversity change in complex systems.*

This project will explore the dynamic consequences of species loss from large complex food webs. Food webs can be viewed as complex systems of interacting species and have a number of network properties that can be explored from a mathematical perspective.

The aim of the project will be to use mathematical and computational approaches to investigate the importance of species in a food web context. The project will use documented patterns of body size, abundance and food web structure to parameterise models of a series of marine food webs with a special focus on Lough Hyne, south west Ireland.

We are also interested in dynamics of food webs in general. We are currently recruiting for a Ph.D in theoretical ecology (Applied Mathematics) to work on the project. The prospective candidate should have a background in mathematics. The applicant should be open to multidisciplinary research and have a full and clean drivers licence. The scholarship will be in the region of €24,000 a year inclusive of fees and research costs.

Interested candidates should send a CV and cover letter to Dr. Mark Emmerson at m.emmerson[at]ucc.ie (Tel: 00353 21 490 1951) by *Friday 27th September 2007*, stating why the position is of interest.

Please include the names and email addresses of two academic referees. For more information on the biodiversity research group at UCC see:
http://www.ucc.ie/zeps/pages/staff/emmerson_m.htm.