PHD IN EXPERIMENTAL ZOOPLANKTON ECOLOGY
Centre for Ocean Life (www.OceanLifeCentre.dk) offers a 3-year PhD fellowship in Experimental
Zooplankton Ecology at DTU Aqua (The National Institute for Aquatic Resources at the Technical University
of Denmark). The position starts February 1st, 2013, or soon thereafter.
The project aims at (i) describing the mechanisms of feeding and swimming in zooplankton and (ii)
quantifying the associated trade-offs. While feeding and swimming mechanism are well understood in many
zooplankton organisms, such insights are lacking in some very abundant groups, ranging from copepod
nauplii and choanoflagellates to marine cladocerans and several groups of copepods.
We will use high speed video to directly observe freely swimming and feeding zooplankton and particle
image velocimetry to visualize the flow patterns that they generate. In collaboration with physicists we will
develop fluid mechanical models to estimate feeding efficiency, energetic costs and predation risk, and to
help generalize experimental observations to other types of plankton than those observed. The result will be
quantification of the tradeoffs associated with the principal modes of swimming and feeding in zooplankton.
Choice of target organisms will depend on the fellow’s expertise and interests. The project is part of a larger
effort to provide trait-based descriptions of the major life forms in the ocean and to construct trait-based
models of marine ecosystems.
Further information about the project and the research environment can be found at the Centre’s homepage
- www.OceanLifeCentre.dk
Qualifications
We are looking for an experimentally oriented plankton ecologist. We expect that you have some quantitative
skills and that you are interested in learning and developing collaboration with fluid physicists that share your
interest in achieving a mechanistic understanding of how zooplankton swim and feed. Candidates should
have a Masters degree or equivalent.
Approval and Enrolment
The scholarships for the PhD degree are subject to academic approval, and the candidates will be enrolled
in one of the general degree programmes of DTU. For information about the general requirements for
enrolment and the general planning of the scholarship studies, please see the DTU PhD Guide.
Salary and terms of employment
The salary and appointment terms are following the current rules for PhD degree students. The period of
employment for PhD student is 3 years.
Further information
Further information may be obtained from Professor Thomas Kiørboe, DTU Aqua, tk@aqua.dtu.dk.
Please do not send applications to this e-mail address, instead apply online as described below.
Application procedure
We must have your online application by 10 January 2013. Go to:
http://www.aqua.dtu.dk/English/About/Vacancies.aspx?guid=a7764a05-09c2-4d73-8531-bf1fac434036
Open the link "apply online" at the bottom of the page and fill in the application form and attach the following
documents:
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A letter motivating the application (cover letter)
Application
Curriculum vitae
Publication list
Two letters of recommendation
Grade transcripts and BSc/MSc diploma
Excel sheet with translation of grades to the Danish grading system (see guidelines and excel
spreadsheet here)
Other material that you would like to be included in the evaluation
Candidates may apply prior to obtaining their master's degree, but cannot begin before having received it.
Applications and enclosures received after the deadline will not be considered.
All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, race, disability, religion or ethnic background are
encouraged to apply.
Centre for Ocean Life is a Villum Kann Rasmussen Centre of excellence for the study of life in a
changing ocean. The Centre is a collaborative effort between the Technical University of Denmark,
University of Copenhagen, and Roskilde University. The goal of the Centre is to develop a fundamental
understanding and predictive capability of marine ecosystems through the use of trait-based approaches,
involving observations and experimentation as well as modelling. The Centre brings together biologists,
physicist, chemists, and mathematicians, funds PhD and postdoctoral fellows, offers PhD summer schools
international workshops, and operates a Researcher Visitors Centre.