PhD opportunities within the Centre for Integrative Ecology (CIE):

The CIE has several vacancies for intelligent and creative PhD candidates that want to work at the forefront of ecological sciences. Besides considering any immediately available PhD positions under “Current Vacancies” or the research topics listed below, we also encourage candidates to develop their own projects within CIE’s framework.

Candidates interested in the research topics below should lodge a Research Scholarship application with Deakin University (for more information click here).

Deakin’s Research Scholarships are valued at approximately A$ 23,700 per annum and the program will not incur any tuition fees if completed within the appropriate time frame.

All candidates are encouraged to contact their putative Deakin supervisor or the director of the centre (d.driscoll@deakin.edu.au) before application. In your communication please include a brief CV and a statement on your research interests.

The research topics listed below provide you a flavour for the subjects that we are working on and for which we seek applicants. We also encourage candidates to develop their own projects within CIE’s framework.

Proposal titles (in no particular order)

• Interactions between sensory systems, signals and the environment and direction of evolution
• Ecological responses to climate change in southern Australian estuaries (2 proposals)
• The evolution of harem polygyny in insects
• Climate and the evolution of bird beaks: A global biogeographic perspective
• The response of koalas to a changing environment
• Energetics and timing of moult in little penguins
• How does muscle physiology reflect and affect flying style: a test in diving seabirds
  
• Biomechanics of Guppy Courtship as a predictor of cost of courtship and mating success
• Guppy Courtship signals and the lateral line
• Do guppies forage differentially on carotenoids and carotenoid mixtures which will particularly increase their visual contrast to females under specific light environments?
• The Crimson Rosella
• Physiological and behavioural determinants of performance in seabirds
• Reproductive consequences of foraging ecology in male Australian fur seals
• The evolution of complex song repertoires in birds
• The proximate and ultimate effects of endocrine disruption in birds
• Do some dietary fats benefit exercise endurance at the expense of immune performance?
• Transgenerational consequences of maternal stress in birds
• Predicting bird colouration from microhabitat use
• Cognition and the optimum bower design in great bowerbirds
• Discerning the cause of fowl plague outbreaks: drought-rainfall cycles, waterfowl population dynamics, and avian influenza prevalence in Australian avifauna
• The capacity of long-distance migrants to cope with global change: the role of individual variation and flexibility
• Species habitat selection: what influences choice, what are the costs, and how do they respond to change?
• Evolutionary and pest biology of the invasive North Pacific sea star, Asterias amurensis, in Australia

See also Current Vacancies page for a more positions including PhD projects.