We are looking for an enthusiastic and highly motivated PhD-candidate who is eager to study the ecological consequences of sexual size dimorphism using mathematical models. You will be embedded in the Theoretical and Computational department, which is part of the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) at the Faculty of Science at the University of Amsterdam. In the animal kingdom, we commonly see species where one sex is larger than the other - a phenomenon called sexual size dimorphism. Despite remarkable differences between the sexes, these are not present early in life for most species. Because many differences between the sexes arise during an individual's development, the ecological conditions experienced early in life influence the expression of sexual dimorphism later in life. To understand the ecological consequences of sexual size dimorphism, we need to know how early-life growth and development shape differences between the sexes. What are you going to do? In this project, you will develop sex- and size-structured population models to study how plasticity in growth in body size during development affects the ecological consequences of sexual size dimorphism. You will use numerical continuation techniques and mathematical bifurcation analyses to analyse these models. While this is mainly a theoretical and computational research project, it is possible and highly encouraged to also carry out some experimental lab work at the University of Karlstad (Sweden) to test model predictions with an empirical fruit fly system. As long as it fits in the general topic of this research position, you will have flexibility in choosing the questions you wish to investigate. Possible questions that you may address for this project are: * How do changes in early life growth rate and the size at first reproduction affect population dynamics and species persistence in sexual size dimorphic species? * How does food availability and size-specific mortality shape sexual size dimorphism, and, vice versa, how do differences in size between the sexes affect the feedback on food availability and population dynamics? * What is the effect of resource segregation between the sexes or between life-stages on the ecological dynamics of sexual dimorphic populations? * How is sexual size dimorphism shaped by evolution, resource availability, and developmental plasticity? Application deadline: 20 May 2024 For more information please visit https://vacatures.uva.nl/UvA/job/PhD-Candidate-in-Theoretical-Ecology/793274302/ Hanna ten Brink (to subscribe/unsubscribe the EvolDir send mail to golding@mcmaster.ca)