Details
The ACCE DTP is committed to recruiting extraordinary future scientists regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, faith or religious belief, pregnancy or maternity, parental or caring responsibilities or career pathway to date. We understand that a student’s potential can be shown in many ways and we strive to recruit students from all backgrounds, and support them on their scientific journey.
We have designed our application systems to identify candidates who are likely to be successful in research regardless of what opportunities may have been available to them prior to their application.
Various support and guidance on applying for an ACCE DTP studentship, including how to apply; what we’re looking for (including our assessment rubric); details of financial support, training, and placement opportunities available; and details of our recruitment process, can be found at accedtp.ac.uk, in the ‘prospective applicants’ tab.
Project Overview
We are seeking an enthusiastic student with interests in genetics, ecology and evolution to work on a project investigating thermal adaptation in tropical Andean butterflies. Understanding organisms’ adaptation to their thermal environment is important for predicting responses to climate change. Tropical insects make up around half of all species on Earth, and yet very little is known about their thermal ecology. Butterflies are one of the best-studied insect groups with respect to thermal adaptation, but relatively little is known about the responses of tropical species to climate change.
The Heliconius butterflies have been extensively studied with good genomic resources and excellent information on species ranges. Many of the species in the genus are found in and around the Andes and work to date shows variation, both within and between species, in traits related to altitudinal and thermal adaptation. This provides an excellent opportunity to investigate the genetic basis of this variation and to find out how genotypes associated with thermal adaptation vary in space and time.
The project can be tailored to the interests of the student but would include analysing genomic data to identify genetic loci associated with altitudinal and thermal adaptation in Heliconius. This could be followed with examination of the distribution of particular genotypes at these loci across South America in relation to different ecological variables and how these have changed over time. This would make use of the extensive existing samples available for Heliconius in various collections, and the genomic data available for many of these. There would also be the possibility of field work in South America for further sampling or experiments. The student would therefore receive training and gain skills in advanced genomics and bioinformatics as well as a range of other ecological and evolutionary techniques.
Essential Criteria
- General understanding of ecology, evolution and genetics (undergraduate degree level knowledge)
- Basic knowledge of how to organise and analyse data in a scientific context (undergraduate degree level, with some evidence of having analysed scientific data e.g. for a research project)
- Basic knowledge of how to find and interpret scientific literature
Desirable Criteria
- Experience of analysing genomic data
- Experience of analysing range or distribution data, or ecological niche modelling
How to Apply
Notes and details of how to apply are available here: https://accedtp.ac.uk/phd-opportunities/
All applicants to ACCE must complete the ACCE personal statement proforma. This is instead of a personal/supporting statement or cover letter. The proforma is designed to standardise this part of the application to minimise the difference between those who are given support and those who are not. Candidates should also submit a cv and the contact details of 2 referees.
Informal enquiries may be made to [email protected]
Part-Time Study Options
All ACCE PhDs are available as part time or full time, with part time being a minimum of 50% of full time. Please discuss potential part time arrangements with the primary supervisor before applying to the programme.
Project CASE Status
This project is not a CASE project. While individual applicant quality is our overriding criterion for selection, the ACCE DTP has a commitment for 40% of all studentships to be CASE funded - as such, CASE projects may be favoured in shortlisting applicants when candidates are otherwise deemed to be equal or a consensus on student quality cannot be reached. This will only be done as a last resort for separating candidates.
Funding Information
NERC ACCE DTP programme starts from October 2024.
UKRI provide the following funding for 3.5 years:
• Stipend (2023/24 UKRI rate £18,622)
• Tuition Fees at UK fee rate (2023/24 rate £4,712)
• Research support and training grant (RTSG)
Note - UKRI funding only covers UK (Home) fees. The DTP partners have various schemes which allow international students to join the DTP but only be required to pay home fees. Home fees are already covered in the UKRI funding, meaning that successful international candidates do not need to find any additional funding for fees.