Life Sciences PhD Biology - Eco-evolutionary drivers of hybrid fitness in snapdragons (2025)
What you get
This fully-funded position covers Home (UK) tuition fees and a stipend at standard UKRI rates for 3.5 years. Applicants with overseas fee status need to provide evidence of how they will fund the difference between Home and International tuition fees (approx. £18k per year).
Type of award
Postgraduate Research
Funding type
School funded
PhD project
Overview
We are seeking an enthusiastic and motivated PhD student (starting May 2025) to study the ecological and genetic drivers of hybrid fitness in fitness in snapdragons.
The project
Are you fascinated by evolution, ecological processes, and the role that natural selection plays in shaping biodiversity? If so, join a team of international researchers focused on understanding the factors that shape fitness variation in a Snapdragon hybrid zone in the Spanish Pyrenees.
Snapdragons have been a model for studying trait variation since the time of Mendel and Darwin, and their vibrant flower colour patterns provide a rare opportunity to dissect the genetic and ecological processes maintaining species boundaries. In the Pyrenees, two subspecies—A. m. pseudomajus (magenta flowers) and A. m. striatum (yellow flowers)—come into contact, forming hybrid zones. These striking flower colour differences are controlled by a handful of key genetic loci and are thought to influence pollinator behaviour. Because colour loci segregate and recombine in hybrids individuals, their flower colour varies dramatically from the typical magenta and yellow subspecies. Our past work suggests that selection--probably selection by bee pollinators--is acting to keep two subspecies distinct.
This PhD project will contribute to our genetic, ecological, and evolutionary forces acting on this hybrid zone. Possible research avenues are up for discussion, but could include field experiments on pollinator behavior, genomic analyses of color-pattern loci, phenotypic analysis, and modeling evolutionary dynamics in hybrid populations. The project will take advantage of more than 15 years of data, and may combine molecular techniques, ecological fieldwork, and bioinformatics, offering training in a broad range of cutting-edge research skills.
The team
You will work in the Speciation Research Group (https://www.speciationgroup.org/) led by Dr Sean Stankowski in the Ecology and Evolution department at the 麻豆传媒社区入口, Brighton. There will be ample opportunity to collaborate and/or share findings with other scientists from the broader snapdragon community, including Nick Barton (IST Austria), and David Field (Macquarie University), Frank Chan (Groningen), and Enrico Coen (John Innes Centre). You will also benefit from other research groups within the Department of Ecology and Evolution who study evolution (Adam Eyre-Walker), and plant pollinator interactions (Beth Nicholas and Maria Clara Castellanos).
Eligibility
Ideal candidates will have some experience working in the field, conducting data anlaysis in R or python, experience working with genetic data or genomic datasets, and will be excited about the subject area.
Eligible applicants will hold a 2:1 BSc in a relevant subject. Candidates for whom English is not their first language will require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall, with not less than 6.0 in any section - English language requirements
Deadline
31 March 2025 23:45How to apply
Please submit a formal application using the online admissions portal attaching a CV, degree transcripts and certificates, personal statement, and two academic referees. A research proposal is not required.
On the application system select Programme of Study – PhD Biology. Please state the project title under funding obtained and the supervisor’s name where required.
Applications are particularly welcomed from candidates with protected characteristics – e.g., from Black and other ethnic minorities – who are under-represented in postgraduate research at our institution.
Contact us
For enquiries about the project, please contact supervisor: Sean Stankowski at s.stankowski@sussex.ac.uk
For enquiries about the application process, please email Emma Chorley: lifesci-rec@sussex.ac.uk
Availability
At level(s):
PG (research)
Application deadline:
31 March 2025 23:45 (GMT)
Countries
The award is available to people from the following country: