PhD Scholarships (University of Potsdam)

The Potsdam Graduate Initiative on modelling the response of populations,
species and communities to global change is seeking highly qualified and
motivated candidates for four PhD scholarships. The position is open from 01
July 2007 for up to 3 years.

The interdisciplinary research and education program deals with different
ecological and evolutionary aspects of the response of populations, species,
and communities to the global environmental change. The PhD projects combine
recent developments in theoretical ecology as well as process-based and
statistical ecological modelling. The projects will be supervised by two
members of the Institutes of Biochemistry & Biology, Geoecology, and Physics
at the University of Potsdam. They are integrated into the Potsdam Graduate
School.

The four different topics of the PhD projects are:
(1) "Stay and adapt or flee and invade: how do life histories evolve under
different scenarios of climate and landscape change" Supervisors F. Jeltsch
(Plant Ecology and Conservation Biology) & R. Tiedemann (Evolutionary
Biology/Zoology)

(2) "Propagation of variability patterns from individual populations to
complex food webs - analysis of plankton time-series" Supervisors U. Gaedke
(Ecology & Ecosystem Modelling) & J. Kurths (Nonlinear Dynamics)

(3) "Integrating dynamic processes into species distribution models to
improve predictions for scenarios of environmental change" Supervisors B.
Schroeder (Landscape Ecology/Geoecology) & V. Grimm (Ecological Modelling)

(4) "Using process-based statistical models to explain and predict range
shifts under environmental change" Supervisors F. Schurr (Plant Ecology and
Conservation Biology) & W. Cramer (Global Ecology)

Applicants must have an above-average Master's degree or equivalent in
Natural Sciences and a good background in modelling and statistics . The
willingness, both to do interdisciplinary research and to actively
participate in the activities of the Potsdam Graduate School, is a
prerequisite for the application.

Applications, preferably in electronic form, should refer to one of the four
projects and include a CV, copies of degree certificates, and possibly a
letter of recommendation. They should be forwarded to the project leader,
Prof. Dr. Florian Jeltsch, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, Plant
Ecology & Conservation Biology Group, Am Neuen Palais 10, Universität
Potsdam, D-14469 Potsdam (email: jeltsch@uni-potsdam.de).
For further information, please contact the coordinator of the Graduate
Initiative, Dr. Boris Schroeder (Institute of Geoecology, University of
Potsdam, Tel. +49 (0)331 977-2480, email: boris.schroeder@uni-potsdam.de).
See also the web pages of the participating groups
(http://www.bio.uni-potsdam.de/; http://www.uni-potsdam.de/u/Geooekologie/;
http://www.agnld.uni-potsdam.de/). The closing date for applications is 18
June 2007.