La Caixa PhD studentship

We are offering a research project listed under La Caixa prestigious PhD studentships. The studentships are competitive and only the best students will be selected.

Our project is termed “Modelling the future of species interactions under climate change extremes“. For this project, we are looking for a bright and committed candidate with ability to work in a collaborative international context. The studentship is suitable for candidates of any nationality with a background in biology, ecology and geography and great interest in spatial conservation planning. The chosen candidate will be registered for PhD at at the University of Évora and be based at Miguel Araújo Lab and work jointly with Juan David González Trujillo. The candidate will be funded following FCT rules and regulations. S(he) will work extensively with plant-animal interaction databases and make intensive use of statistical approaches for data mining and modeling. Then, preference goes to candidates that already obtained good MSc, have proven academic experience in statistical analysis of ecological and/or climate data, and modelling (R or Python).

While research questions can be sharpened according to the candidate interests, s(he) will have to work proactively in:

• Compiling information on (i) frugivory interactions, (ii) species distribution, (iii) species heat tolerance, (iv) species drought tolerance.
• Characterize and map the extension and properties of drought episodes since the 80s and their effects on interaction networks.
• Assess the role of drought tolerance to ameliorate impacts on interaction networks.
• Model biodiversity scenarios for terrestrial ecosystems under future regimes of extreme events.