Postdoctoral Research Associate / Fellow

This ERC Advanced Grant (UKRI funded) full-time post is available from 01/01/2027 until 31/12/2029.

The starting salary will be from £34,610 on Grade E for Associate level or £43,482 for Fellow level on Grade F, depending on qualifications and experience.

The Role
The Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy wishes to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Fellow or Associate to participate in research on the evolution of intergroup conflict in animal societies, using laboratory and field experiments on a basal termite system. The successful applicant will work with a team led by Dr Faye Thompson and Professor Michael Cant to investigate how intergroup conflict influences individual and colony social behaviour, development and life history using a lab population of the basal termite, Zootermopsis angusticollis, combined with experiments at field sites in the Santa Cruz area, California, USA.

Intergroup conflict is recognised as a potentially powerful force shaping the evolution of social behaviour in animal societies. However, little is known about the dynamics and organisation of collective aggression, the effect of intergroup interactions on social behaviour, or the longer-term impacts on development and life history. This project will test new theoretical models of fighting behaviour and explore the consequences of intergroup conflict in a model insect system, the basal termite Zootermopsis angusticollis. Using controlled laboratory and field experiments, advanced tracking technology, and theoretical modelling, the project will illuminate the behavioural rules that shape conflict between groups to understand the initiation, dynamics and outcomes of intergroup interactions. The broader aim is to better understand the causes and consequences of intergroup conflict in animal societies and its role in social evolution.

The successful applicant will be based at our lab in Cornwall, UK but will be required to spend short periods at our field sites in the Santa Cruz area, California, USA to conduct complimentary field experiments and collect wild termite colonies for our laboratory population. They will join a large and dynamic multi-institution team in the UK and Germany working on the evolution of intergroup conflict using diverse empirical systems and theoretical approaches.

Postdoctoral Research Associate: The successful applicant will be able to present information on research progress and outcomes, communicate complex information, orally, in writing and electronically and prepare proposals and applications to external bodies.

Applicants will possess a relevant PhD (or be nearing completion) or possess an equivalent qualification/experience in a related field of study and be able to demonstrate sufficient knowledge in the discipline and of research methods and techniques to work within established research programmes. Applicants will be required to conduct research for short periods at the field site.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow: The successful applicant will be able to develop research objectives, projects and proposals, identify sources of research funding and contribute to the process of securing funds and make presentations at conferences and other events.

Applicants will possess a relevant PhD or equivalent qualification/experience in a related field of study. The successful applicant will be a nationally recognised authority in behavioural ecology, collective behaviour, or evolutionary biology and possess sufficient specialist knowledge in the discipline to develop research programmes and methodologies. Applicants will be required to conduct research for short periods at the field site.

Please ensure you read the Job Description and Person Specification for full details of this role.

Further information
Please contact Dr Faye Thompson, F.J.Thompson@exeter.ac.uk.

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