PhD student (m/f/d) “Genus-level diversity of the deep-sea isopod family Macrostylidae”

Job posting ref. #01-21057

For over 200 years the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung represents one of the most relevant institutions investigating nature and its diversity. Currently, scientists from more than 40 countries conduct research in the fields of biodiversity, earth system analysis and climate change in seven Senckenberg Institutes across Germany.

Following its mission to analyse and document biodiversity in earth system dynamics – to serve science and society, Senckenberg fosters curiosity-driven and application-oriented research. In Senckenberg at Frankfurt we seek to fill the position of a

PhD student (m/f/d)

“Genus-level diversity of the deep-sea isopod family Macrostylidae”

(part time 65%)

The Senckenberg Ocean Species Alliance (SOSA) project combines marine biodiversity research, species conservation, and science communication within one project. This interdisciplinary project is composed of three pillars, the Discovery Unit, Red Listing Unit and the Engagement Unit, whose tasks are tightly interlinked. The Discovery Unit will apply a new model for biodiversity work by providing taxonomic services to users inside and outside of Senckenberg. http://sosa.senckenberg.de .

The project aims for a better representation of the evolutionary relationships within Macrostylidae in their taxonomic organisation. These shall be further clarified using a synthesis of morphological and molecular approaches to taxonomy. By means of this integrative taxonomy, the PhD student will describe new species of this group from various oceans (incl. Atlantic, Pacific, Southern Ocean). Morphological characters will be added and scored to an already existing database in the computer program DELTA (DEscription Language for TAxonomy) which will serve as a basis for producing description texts, identification keys, diagnoses and character matrices in various output formats.

Your tasks:

• Study morphological and genomic differentiation in selected isopod species complexes from the Northwest Pacific deep sea
• Apply integrative taxonomic approaches, population genomics and molecular phylogenetic
• Publish results in international journals in cooperation with the project team
• Participate in project meetings, outreach activities and contribute to project reporting, as well as presenting project results during international scientific conferences (posters/talks)