The Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) in the Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V., a member of the Leibniz Association, aims to understand and, where possible, ‘improve’ the adaptive capacity of wild animals to cope with global change. To this end, it focuses on the diversity of lifestyles, diseases and mechanisms of evolutionary adaptation of mammals and birds, on the limits of these mechanisms in natural and anthropogenically influenced environments, and on conservation strategies that take these into account. The Institute fulfils this mission through long-term, application-oriented, interdisciplinary basic research in evolutionary ecology, ecological dynamics, evolutionary genetics, wildlife diseases, reproductive biology and reproductive management.
For our Departments of Ecological Dynamics and Evolutionary Ecology we are seeking to appoint a
Postdoc in demographic modelling
as part of a project on the demographic resilience of wildlife populations (“WILDER”), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Within this project, we developed a new approach to quantify the demographic resilience of wildlife populations to environmental changes. This approach accounts for the time-varying character of demographic resilience and is applied to unique long-term datasets from two populations of free-ranging spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) in the Serengeti National Park (https://ecodynizw.github.io/team-individual.html) and in the Ngorongoro Crater (hyena-project.com) in Tanzania, collected over a period of 37 and 28 years, respectively. The aim of this postdoc position is to disentangle the relative contribution of the variation in vital rates and variation in population structure on time-varying demographic resilience. The candidate will use a population dynamics model (implemented in R) and an R package that the WILDER team specifically developed for this project. The candidate will collaborate closely with a PhD candidate already working on similar aspects of this project.
The selected candidate will be mentored by four senior scientists with complementary expertise: Dr Viktoriia Radchuk, Dr Oliver Höner & Dr Sarah Benhaiem from Leibniz- IZW and Prof Adam Clark from the University of Graz. The candidate will be offered to attend a national conference and to help organise a symposium in August 2025 to disseminate the results of WILDER project among researchers collecting long-term demographic data.
Requirements:
- PhD in population ecology, demography, biostatistics, ecology, biology, zoology, bioinformatics, environmental sciences, or related fields;
- solid experience in statistical analyses and programming in R;
- background in population ecology, specifically population matrix models;
- documented ability to publish peer-reviewed papers;
- documented proficiency in English (oral and written);
- ability to work both independently and as part of a team;
- good interpersonal and communication skills.
This is what we offer:
- An interesting and responsible position with room for manoeuvre in an international and dynamic scientific working environment in a beautiful location right next to the Tierpark Berlin-Friedrichsfelde.
- A comprehensive induction programme and a well-functioning team that will be happy to support you.
- Working on an equal footing between all those involved and respectful co-operation within the team.
- A full-time employment relationship of 39 hours per week in flexitime with part-time option.
- A salary in accordance with the public collective bargaining law TVöD (Bund) with an annual bonus payment, at level E13.
- Company pension scheme (VBL) and subsidised capital-forming benefits (VWL).
- Flexible working hours to allow scope for work-life balance.
- 30 days holiday per calendar year.
- Excellent connectivity with public transport, to underground stations Tierpark (U5) or Friedrichsfelde-Ost (S5, S7, S75), as well as three tram lines and several bus routes.
- Employer subsidy for the annual public transport ‘job ticket’.
- Free admission to the Tierpark (current agreement between Leibniz-IZW and Tierpark Berlin) from Monday to Friday.
The position will be filled by 1st December, 2024 and is limited to 10 months.
We welcome applications regardless of gender, origin, sexual orientation and religion. Disabled persons will be given preferential consideration in case of equal suitability. We promote diversity, so please convince us with your quality and competence. The Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research is "Total-E-Quality" certified, promotes equality and actively supports a work-life balance.
Enquiries or questions should be directed to Dr. Viktoriia Radchuk(radchuck@izw-berlin.de, Tel.: +49 (0)30 5168-454), Dr. Sarah Benhaiem (benhaiem@izw-berlin.de, Tel.: +49 (0)30 5168-466) and Dr. Oliver Höner (hoener@izw-berlin.de, +49 (0)30 5168-516).
How to apply:
Go to Vacancies/Jobs on our homepage (www.leibniz-izw.de) and click on this advertisement and then on "Apply Online". Please send us your complete and informative application, which includes:1) a letter of motivation highlighting particular skills for this position (maximum 1 page), 2) a CV (maximum 3 pages), 3) copies of relevant degrees, 4) a list of publications and 5) the feedback (or alternatively the names and contact details) of two referees. With fully prepared documents, your online application will take 10-15 minutes. Applications received by 13thSeptember 2024 will be considered in any case. Re-entrants (f/m/d) are welcome!
Finalist candidates will be informed by email within a few days of this deadline and will be invited to short interviews, which will likely take place on 19-20 September 2024, via video call. Finalist candidates will be asked to prepare a short (ca. 10 min) presentation of their previous and current research.
We are looking forward to your application!