PhD Studentship: Weaponry and aggression in wild fiddler crabs, NERC GW4+ DTP PhD studentship for September 2026 Entry

About the Partnership

This project is one of a number that are in competition for funding from the NERC Great Western Four+ Doctoral Training Partnership (GW4+ DTP).  The GW4+ DTP consists of the Great Western Four alliance of the University of Bath, University of Bristol, Cardiff University and the University of Exeter plus five Research Organisation partners:  British Antarctic Survey, British Geological Survey, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology,  the Natural History Museum and Plymouth Marine Laboratory.  The partnership aims to provide a broad training in earth and environmental sciences, designed to train tomorrow’s leaders in earth and environmental science. For further details about the programme please see http://nercgw4plus.ac.uk/

For eligible successful applicants, the studentships comprises:

• An stipend for 3.5 years (currently £20,780 p.a. for 2026/27) in line with UK Research and Innovation rates
• Payment of university tuition fees
• The budget for project costs is £9,000 which can be used for computer, lab, and fieldwork costs necessary for you to conduct your research.
• There is also a conference budget of £2,000 and individual Training Budget of £1,000 for specialist training

Project Aims and Methods

In a diverse range of taxa, individuals use enlarged horns, teeth, claws or other morphological weapons in contests against rivals. To understand how such weaponry has co-evolved with aggressive behaviour, we need to know: (1) What are the physiological costs of growing and maintaining weapons? (2) What features of their own and their opponents’ weaponry can individuals perceive? (3) How does this information affect behavioural decisions before and during combat? This PhD project will tackle these questions using a combination of evolutionary modelling and behavioural experiments in a wild population of West African fiddler crabs (Afruca tangeri). From May to July at our coastal study site in southern Portugal, thousands of male fiddler crabs fight over burrow ownership using an enlarged claw (~30% of their body weight), and can be studied in situ using biorobotics, flow-through respirometry and other cutting-edge techniques. Our supervisory team is an interdisciplinary collaboration across the DLTP partnership and will provide bespoke training in behavioural fieldwork (Darden—Exeter), ecophysiology, sensory ecology (How—Bristol), game theory and evolutionary simulations (Fawcett—Exeter). There are many exciting directions the work could take and we are especially keen to hear from students who want to play an active role in designing the project. 

Useful recruitment links:  

For information relating to the research project please contact the lead Supervisor via: t.w.fawcett@exeter.ac.uk

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