PhD IN SOCIAL EVOLUTION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL (UK)

Keen to do a PhD in animal social evolution? Intrigued by the evolution
of cooperation and conflict? Unfazed by challenging fieldwork? You have
until Monday 13th January to apply for our PhD exploring the behavioural
ecology of the social wasps of Africa, including a 3-month internship
in wildlife filmmaking at the BBC Natural History Unit.

For how to apply, see: www.tinyurl.com/AfricanWaspsPhD
For information about the Social Strategy Lab at the University of
Bristol, see www.patrickckennedy.com

About the Project:

In this PhD, you will explore what makes the powerful powerful. Why do
some animals dominate others, and how do they stay in power? You will
turn to one of the most fascinating social organisms on the planet:
the beautiful and long-neglected wasps of Africa (Belonogaster). To
reveal the drama of social life in the wild, you will use field-cameras
to track dominance displays, submission, social networks, and struggles
for control of social groups. You will be supported to devise creative
behavioural experiments with wild wasps (e.g., manipulating food
resources to test key hypotheses about where power comes from)
and novel evolutionary game theory to illuminate the strategies
individuals pursue. Finally, you will zoom out to survey the vast
diversity of power struggles across vertebrates and invertebrates,
with the potential to develop cutting-edge meta-analyses. During your
PhD, you will conduct an internship with wildlife-filmmakers at the BBC
Natural History Unit in Bristol, learning how insect behaviour is filmed
and how science is translated into documentaries. This PhD will provide
you with highly diverse set of skills, including designing and running
ambitious field-experiments, macro-videography for studying behaviour,
mathematical and computational modelling, and the ability to innovate
in evolutionary biology and ecology.

Location:

You will be part of the lab group of Dr Patrick Kennedy at the University
of Bristol, and will be part of the NERC GW4+ Doctoral Training
Partnership. You will also benefit from working with co-supervisors
focused on different dimensions of this project: social evolution
experiments (Prof Andy Radford, Bristol), game theory modelling (Dr Andy
Higginson, Exeter), and filmmaking (Paul Williams, BBC Natural History
Unit). You will be based in the state-of-the-art Life Sciences Building
at the University of Bristol.

Qualifications and Eligibility:

The successful candidate must have a high grade in a BSc or MSc in
biology (or a related discipline), and will be able to demonstrate
(1) an excellent academic track-record, (2) a clear and demonstrable
passion for the study of animal behaviour and evolutionary biology, and
(3) enthusiasm and practical capacity for conducting intensive fieldwork.

Internship at the BBC:

The BBC Natural History Unit are the CASE partner. You will complete an
internship placement at the BBC Natural History Unit, planned to take
place during production of the major upcoming BBC series on insects,
'Hidden Planet', which will provide the student with an understanding
of wildlife filmmaking (with a direct focus on insect behaviour) and how
academic research is translated into natural history documentaries. Whilst
working at the BBC, in-kind contributions include support with desk space
at BBC offices in Bridgewater House, Bristol, as well as access to the
BBC=92s dedicated studio filming space. The team can provide informal,
and potentially some formal, BBC training during the placement.

How to apply to the University of Bristol:

For details on how to apply (including links to the application website),
see: www.tinyurl.com/AfricanWaspsPhD

This PhD is part of the competition-funded NERC GW4+ Doctoral Landscape
Award. This means that the application process has two stages:

  1.  First, the supervisors will identify the top applicant to
      this project.
  2.  The top applicant will then be nominated to interview for PhD
      funding in a competitive process alongside other projects.

Funding Notes:

Studentships pay full fees and a stipend at the UKRI rate for
three and half years, beginning in September 2025.  Information for
international students:  There are a limited number of full studentships
for international students. International applicants need to be aware
that you will have to cover the cost of your student visa, healthcare
surcharge & other costs of moving to the UK to undertake a PhD.

Dr Patrick Kennedy
Lecturer in Biological Sciences | Social Strategy Lab
<http://www.patrickckennedy.com/>, University of Bristol

Office 2B18, School of Biological Sciences, Life Sciences Building
University of Bristol, 24 Tyndall Avenue, BS8 1TQ, UK

Patrick Kennedy <patrick.kennedy@bristol.ac.uk>

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