Research Assistant/Associate in Eco-Evolutionary Demographic Modelling

We are a world class research-intensive university. We deliver teaching and learning of the highest quality. We play a leading role in economic, social and cultural development of the North East of England. Attracting and retaining high-calibre people is fundamental to our continued success.

Salary
Research Assistant: £33,951 - £35,608 per annum.
Research Associate: £36,636 - £46,049 per annum.

The Role
We are looking for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to develop and apply new modelling approaches to understand how development shapes population dynamics under environmental change. The role sits within a NERC-funded project on development-centric demography and will work closely with the PI and wider team. The postholder will lead modelling components of the project and contribute to integrating theory with empirical data.

The NERC-funded project develops a new development-centric framework for understanding adaptation under environmental change. Current models often treat phenotypes as fixed traits, overlooking the developmental processes through which organisms construct their phenotypes, creating a key "phenotypic gap" in demographic theory. The project integrates modelling, experiments and empirical data to understand how developmental trajectories (e.g. growth, maturation and resource allocation) shape survival, reproduction and adaptive potential. By treating organisms as active systems that regulate their own development and modify their environments, the work aims to improve predictions of population resilience and evolutionary responses to environmental change. The project builds on recent work developing a "development-centric" approach to demography (see Smallegange 2026, Academia Biology for an overview).

This is a full-time, fixed-term role available for the duration of 34 months.

For all informal enquiries please contact isabel.smallegange@ncl.ac.uk.

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