Postdoctoral researcher in Biology - University of Turku

he Faculty of Science at the University of Turku invites applications for a 3-year fixed term postdoctoral researcher position at the Department of Biology from 1.1.2024 to 31.12.2026. Employment starts on 1.1.2024 or as agreed.

We are hiring 2-3 postdoctoral researchers in an ERC-project called “KinSocieties”, led by professor Virpi Lummaa. The postdoctoral positions are funded by the EU and will be based at the University of Turku, Finland.

Job description

Family, friends, and complex social networks are important in all human societies and other group-living non-human animals. Social interactions can improve health, support and resources, but close contact with conspecifics can also increase disease exposure and stress, and lead to competition and conflict. We are looking for 2-3 postdoctoral researchers to study the benefits and costs of sociality in our two complimentary study systems: humans and Asian elephants. Both species are currently facing drastic changes in social structures due to break-down of kin networks.

Who we are looking for

The candidate should hold a doctorate degree in Biology or related areas, and the following specific skills:

• Expertise in social evolution, evolutionary demography and/or health studies;

• Experience in methodological tools of network analyses and statistical methods such as survival analyses, multivariate analyses, discrete time-event analyses and generalized linear mixed models;

• Experience in handling and combining large and complex datasets;

• Experience in interdisciplinary collaborations and creative thinking;

• Experience in publishing research articles in international peer-reviewed scientific journals;

• Fluent oral and written communication skills in English.

We value equality and diversity in our work community and encourage qualified applicants, regardless of background, to apply for our open positions.

Desirable qualifications

We seek a highly motivated, enthusiastic and hard-working candidate with passion to learn more. The applicant must show good interpersonal skills and be willing to work in close collaboration with the project PI and other members of the international and interdisciplinary project team, as well as have the ability to work independently.

More information can be checked on the link:

ats.talentadore.com

The Faculty of Science at the University of Turku invites applications for a 3-year fixed term postdoctoral researcher position at the Department of Biology from 1.1.2024 to 31.12.2026. Employment starts on 1.1.2024 or as agreed. We are hiring 2-3 postdoctoral researchers in an ERC-project called “KinSocieties”, led by professor Virpi Lummaa. The postdoctoral positions are funded by the EU and will be based at the University of Turku, Finland. Job description Family, friends, and complex social networks are important in all human societies and other group-living non-human animals. Social interactions can improve health, support and resources, but close contact with conspecifics can also increase disease exposure and stress, and lead to competition and conflict. We are looking for 2-3 postdoctoral researchers to study the benefits and costs of sociality in our two complimentary study systems: humans and Asian elephants. Both species are currently facing drastic changes in social structures due to break-down of kin networks. The postdocs will test how translocation to new areas with or without kin, friends or the familiar social group is associated with health outcomes, reproduction and mortality risk. They will flexibly use our two longitudinal datasets on: (1) Life events of >100,000 [Karelian war evacuees](https://human-life-history.science/datasets) displaced during WW2 due to loss of territory and resettled elsewhere either individually or with their previous entire village maintaining old social bonds (2) Follow-up data on translocations of [semi-captive Asian elephants](https://elephant-project.science/) coupled with information on their group compositions, personalities, friendships, longitudinal health records (e.g. diseases, injuries) and various endocrinological stress measures and physiological health indexes