PhD position in Primate Culture & Social Complexity (1.0 FTE)

The Animal Behaviour & Cognition research group is looking for a PhD candidate in animal behaviour for a full-time 4-year research position. The position involves 90% research time and 10% teaching activities within the group.
You will work in the newly formed lab on cultural evolution in non-human primates led by Dr. Edwin J. C. van Leeuwen who is supported by an ERC Starting Grant (CULT_ORIGINS). With a small team of PhD students, we will focus on the extent to which cultural processes determine social behaviour in primates, more specifically in macaques and great apes. You will focus primarily on studying 20 groups of rhesus macaques at the Biomedical Primate Research Centr e (BPRC) in Rijswijk, the Netherlands.
The BPRC houses rhesus and long-tailed macaques in multigenerational groups where females stay in their natal group and males are moved at an age they would disperse in the wild. The BPRC has a strong program on animal welfare and is involved in research on animal behaviour and behavioural management as well as biomedical research.
In the PhD project, the aim will be to characterize the macaques’ social network structures based on observational data, and employ voluntary behavioural experimental studies on social tolerance and cooperation to test the link between social network properties and fitness-relevant behaviours. Given the focus on culture, you will investigate to what extent the social network structures may come about by means of social learning.
In this position you will: 

• conduct research with standard ethological observation techniques;
• combine observational and behavioural experimental methods involving behavioural and cognitive measures;
• integrate knowledge of underlying proximate mechanisms with animal behaviour, cognition and fitness;
• conduct advanced statistical and analytic analyses on behavioural data
• supervise bachelor and master students (10% of your time)

We also would like to draw your attention to another PhD position that is currently available in our group and is advertised simultaneously posted on our website: PhD position in Chimpanzee Culture (1.0 FTE) . You are welcome to apply to both positions, in which case you may be invited for a joint interview so we can discuss which position best suits your interests and abilities.
The position is available immediately. The start date is preferably no later than June 2023.

We are looking for an enthusiastic new colleague who meets the following criteria:

• in possession of a Master’s degree, preferably in animal behaviour;
• experience in conducting behavioural experiments and structural observations of animal social behaviour (preferably with primates);
• the social skills to motivate people from different backgrounds and facilitate team-work;
• academic writing experience;
• proficiency in English, both in speech and writing.

In particular, we are looking for a candidate with a strong background in data analysis using R, preferably experience with Social Network Analysis (e.g., Network-Based Diffusion Analysis or Experience-Weighted Attraction models).

• a full-time position for 4 years;
• a full-time gross salary starting at €2,541 in the first year and increasing to €3,247 in the fourth year (scale P Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities (cao));
• benefits including 8% holiday bonus and 8.3% end-of-year bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave, and flexible employment conditions based on the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities.

In addition to the employment conditions laid down in the cao for Dutch Universities, Utrecht University has a number of its own arrangements. For example, there are agreements on professional development, leave arrangements, and sports. We also give you the opportunity to expand your terms of employment via the Employment Conditions Selection Model. This is how we like to encourage you to continue to grow. 
For more information, please visit working at Utrecht University .

A better future for everyone. This ambition motivates our scientists in executing their leading research and inspiring teaching. At Utrecht University , the various disciplines collaborate intensively towards major societal themes. Our focus is on Dynamics of Youth, Institutions for Open Societies, Life Sciences and Sustainability.
At the Faculty of Science there are 6 departments to make a fundamental connection with: Biology, Chemistry, Information and Computing Sciences, Mathematics, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Physics. Each of these is made up of distinct institutes that work together to focus on answering some of humanity’s most pressing problems. More fundamental still are the individual research groups – the building blocks of our ambitious scientific projects.
You will be embedded in the Animal Behaviour and Cognition (AB&C) group where you will find theoretical and practical support for the study topic. This group is part of the Institute of Environmental Biology within the Department of Biology of Utrecht University. The AB&C group conducts research on animal social behavior and cognition, in particular primates and birds. The group has its own teaching line within the biology bachelor education and its own track Behavioural Ecology in the master Environmental Biology.
You will be supervised by Dr Edwin van Leeuwen . Professor Liesbeth Sterck will formally act as your promotor. These supervisors are leading scholars with regard to animal sociality, including animal culture and comparative cognition. The AB&C-group has connections with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig, Germany).

If you have any questions that you’d like us to answer, please contact Edwin van Leeuwen via [email protected] . 
Do you have a question about the application procedure? Please send an email to [email protected] .
For more information, please visit working at the Faculty of Science .

Everyone deserves to feel at home at our university. We welcome employees with a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives.

If you have the expertise and the experience to excel in this role, then simply respond via the “Apply” button!
Please enclose:

• your letter of motivation;
• your curriculum vitae;
• the names, telephone numbers, and email addresses of two or three references.

If this specific opportunity isn’t for you, but you know someone else who may be interested, please forward this vacancy to them.
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