Ph.D. Endeavour Award opportunity to study behaviour, cognition, and learning in desert ants or honeybees

Candidates are invited to apply for a PhD scholarship opportunity at the Department of Brain, Behaviour and Evolution (http://galliform.bhs.mq.edu.au/~bbe/) via the Endeavour Awards scheme (http://www.endeavour.deewr.gov.au/). Students on these scholarships are not obliged to contribute to teaching, but may do so to supplement their income if desired. Up to AU$6,000 p.a. will be available to cover direct research expenses, and several generous schemes exist to support travel to visit overseas laboratories and to attend international conferences.

The project is based in the laboratory of Ken Cheng (http://galliform.bhs.mq.edu.au/~ken/), to whom enquiries should be directed (ken.cheng@mq.edu.au). Interested applicants should first contact Professor Cheng with an expression of interest, including a CV and academic record. The theme of the PhD opportunity is relatively open, but possible study systems are 1) field experiments on desert ants, Melophorus bagoti, in Central Australia investigating their navigation, learning, or foraging ecology; 2) campus-based experiments on honeybees, comparing the performance of precocious foragers with artificially accelerated development and normal foragers, on a range of tasks such as discrimination, navigation, and flight performance. The honeybee work will be co-supervised by Dr. Andrew Barron of the Department of Brain, Behaviour and Evolution (http://galliform.bhs.mq.edu.au/~andy/Site/About.html).

Applicants should have completed research qualifications equivalent to a four-year Australian Bachelor degree with First Class Honours, such as a Bachelor degree plus a Masters degree with a substantial research component. Applicants should have a background in some of the following areas: biology, psychology, animal behavior, behavioral ecology, neuroethology.

Closing date for expressions of interest: 16 May 2010.

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