A PhD position is open to students interested in working on the evolutionary ecology of sessile marine invertebrates in Professor Dustin Marshall’s group.

The Marine Evolutionary Ecology Group’s research ranges from quantitative genetics to community ecology. Most projects are field-based with a heavy empirical component. The specifics of the project will be determined by joint collaboration between student and supervisor.

After an expression of interest, approved applicants would be required to apply for a scholarship and tuition waiver through Monash University by 15 April 2014.

The success of such applications is not assured and the application process is extremely competitive, students without at least one first-author publication in an international journal (in the topic of ecology or evolution) will not be considered.

The stipends include all course fees plus approximately $25,000 AUD per annum, tax-free (the equivalent of approximately $33,000 before tax) with no teaching requirements for 3.5 years (the length of a PhD in Australia).

Should the applicant be successful, the funding of project costs and research support including the costs of attending at least one conference per year will be provided by the research group.

Project start dates must be before 30 June 2014.

Interested applicants should send an expression of interest, their CVs, a brief statement of a potential research project and the contact details of two referees to dustin.marshall@monash.edu.

To be eligible, applicants must have completed at least one year of post-graduate research in ecology or evolution.

Preference will be given to those with strong quantitative skills and publications in international journals.