mardi 28 juin 2016

PhD Candidate in Animal Behaviour

The group of Prof. Leonida Fusani at the Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Austria (cogbio.univie.ac.at) has funding available for a 3-year PhD position in Animal Behaviour. Gross salary starts at ca. 28.000 € / year.
The PhD candidate should develop a project aimed to understand how different components of avian courtship displays (vocalizations, movements and posture, morphological traits, etc.) contribute to signal male quality and shape female response. We are developing innovative methodologies using motion capture and electroencephalography to study courtship displays, and the candidate is expected to contribute to the development of these methods.
The working language of the Department of Cognitive Biology is English and we welcome scientists and students from any part of the planet. The PhD candidate will be embedded in the newly founded Vienna Doctoral School for Cognition, Behaviour and Neuroscience (COBENE).
The candidate will be supervised by Fusani but will collaborate with other scientists in Vienna and abroad with specific expertise in the methodologies listed above. Fusani holds a double appointment and is also head of the Research Unit of Ornithology of the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology, at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna (www.klivv.at). The PhD student will be able to interact with scientists and students and use facilities of both institutions.
Requested qualifications:
• Masters degree in zoology, psychology, neuroscience, or computer science
• Proficient knowledge of English
• Excellent academic standing
• Strong computational and programming skills
• Research experience in analysis of behaviour (or similar complex systems)
• Genuine interest in studying behaviour from an interdisciplinary perspective
Further desirable qualifications:
• Publications in international, peer-reviewed journals
• Previous experience in studying behaviour
• Previous experience in video analysis, image processing, computer vision
• Ability to work in a team is essential
Letters of application including academic CV, photograph, 2 letters of recommendation, and a statement of research interests should be sent to Mr. Philipp Maier by email (philipp.maier@univie.ac.at) until July 30th, 2016. For further information about the project, please contact Leonida Fusani: leonida.fusani@univie.ac.at. Planned starting date is October 1st, 2016.
The University of Vienna promotes the employment of woman in fields of work in which they are underrepresented and therefore encourages qualified women to apply to this opening. Disabled people will be preferentially treated if qualified.