PHD STUDENT IN BEHAVIOURAL EVOLUTION The Division of Biology at Link??ping University invites applications for a four-year PhD to address outstanding questions on behavioural evolution in canids. WORK ASSIGNMENTS: Understanding how behaviours evolve is a long-standing goal in evolutionary biology. Using the domestic dog as a model species, the PhD student selected for this project will investigate unanswered questions on how complex behavioural phenotypes and social systems develop and evolve. Specifically, the project will focus on behavioural syndromes and social networks in dogs and to some extent wolves. The selected PhD student will work with large-scale behavioural data sets using a range of approaches, including heritability analyses and machine learning. Some data for the project already exist, but additional data will be collected from behavioural tests on privately owned pet dogs in Sweden and abroad (Europe). Travel and time spent abroad should therefore be expected during data collection periods. The project offers rich opportunities for networking and skillset development, as national and international collaborators with diverse backgrounds are involved in the project. Visits to collaborating institutions should be expected. QUALIFICATIONS: You have graduated at Masters level in biology or completed courses with a minimum of 240 credits, at least 60 of which must be in advanced courses with a substantial part gained from courses in animal behaviour/behavioural ecology and evolutionary biology on advanced level. Alternatively, you have gained essentially corresponding knowledge in another way. Assessment of following essential skills will be used in selecting among eligible candidates: * Quality of the master degree in a relevant area * Written and oral proficiency in English * Capacity for analytical thinking and quantitative analysis * Ability to work independently, to take initiative and be creative * Ability and willingness to work collaboratively in a team, including with people of different nationality, religion, gender and ethnicity * Demonstrated experience in planning, overseeing and conducting behavioural tests on animals * Demonstrated experience in behavioural coding * Demonstrated experience in R * Experience with traveling and spending time abroad * Ability and willingness to teach and participate in mentoring bachelor and master students DESIRABLE BUT NOT ESSENTIAL SKILLS: * Canid experience * Demonstrated experience in handling large datasets * Experience with social network analyses * Experience using machine learning and AI tools for behavioural coding For more detail and to apply, see full ad: https://liu.se/en/work-at-liu/vacancies/27417 Application deadline: 24th of September 2025. Contact person: Assistant Professor Christina Hansen Wheat, christina.hansen.wheat (at) liu.se Christina Hansen Wheat, Ph.D Assistant professor in Animal Behaviour Division of Biology Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology Linköping University Sweden Website BlueSky Phone: +46 76 18 19 777 "Contempt for simple observation is a lethal trait in any science"                                     - Nikolaas Tinbergen Christina Hansen Wheat (to subscribe/unsubscribe the EvolDir send mail to golding@mcmaster.ca)