PhD Studentship in Theoretical Marine Ecology and Biocomplexity, Queens University Belfast, UK

Theoretical marine ecology and biocomplexity: investigating the structure and dynamics of marine-community interaction networks.

This PhD project in mathematical biology is part of a larger effort to strengthen the theoretical basis of the “Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management” (EAFM), fully funded by the Irish Government (under the Beaufort Marine Award Scheme). The prestigious ‘Beaufort Research Scholarship’ will be based in the School of Biological Sciences at Queens University Belfast in Northern Ireland; it will run
for three years fully funded! and is available without restrictions on nationality.

The aim is to develop recent theoretical advances (regarding food-webs as dynamic, complex interaction-networks) into management-relevant insights. This will involve adapting existing numerical models into forms directly comparable with real marine ecosystems and generalising model results by mathematical analyses to find the mechanisms determining system structure and dynamics (we can be flexible about the ratio of analysis / simulation types of study, to suite the individual student).

The ’scholar’ will receive extensive training in marine ecology, food-web theory and mathematical modelling and will benefit form our dedicated high-performance computing facilities and collaborations
with fisheries scientists and ecologists in Denmark, Republic of Ireland and UK.

Suitable students will have a 1st class or 2.1 degree in a mathematically-based discipline (e.g. physics) with excellent analytic skills, an interest in stochastic methods and/or complex systems, experience in scientific programming (e.g. Matlab) and a desire to use maths and theory for practical ecological problems.

For further details, see:
http://www.foodwebs.info/jobs/Belfast2008.pdf

Applicants should send a letter outlining why they are suitable for the post, along with a current CV to Dr Keith Farnsworth (k.farnsworth[ at ]qub.ac.uk) by the 26th November 2008. We would hope the
student can start early in, or before 2009.

Closing date: 26th November 2008