[Coral-List] Marie Curie Fellowship for a PhD Student

[crichter at uni-bremen.de]

Marie Curie Fellowship for a PhD Student
(CALMARO  RT5 ? AWI/ZMT/NIOO/PMBC)
Effect of pH dynamics on coral recruitment and early colony growth

The Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) is a member of the Helmholtz  
Association (HGF) and funded by federal and state government. AWI  
focuses on polar and marine research in a variety of disciplines such  
as biology, oceanography, geology and geophysics thus allowing  
multidisciplinary approaches to scientific goals.

AWI is a member of the Marie Curie Initial Training Network consortium  
CalMarO (Calcification by Marine Organisms; http://www.calmaro.eu/).  
CalMaro aims at improving the career perspectives of early researchers  
by offering structured training in the field of Calcification by  
Marine Organisms as well as providing complementary skills and  
exposing the researchers to other sectors including private companies.  
CalMarO comprises investigation of calcareous structures as well as  
calcification processes and the sensitivities to changes in  
environmental conditions at all scales ranging from cellular,  
organism, population to ecosystem, and regional to global levels.

We are looking for a Ph.D. student to study coral recruitment and  
calcification in corals subjected to variations in aragonite  
saturation state induced by internal waves. Research will involve in  
situ work with moored and profiling multisensor probes and autonomous  
samplers, and field and laboratory experiments. Field work will be  
carried out in cooperation with the Phuket Marine Biological Center  
(PMBC) in Thailand with comparative cold coral work at AWI field  
sites. Laboratory experiments will be carried out in cooperation with  
ZMT (Center for Tropical Marine Ecology, Bremen, Germany) and NIOO  
(Netherlands Institute of Ecology in Yerseke, The Netherlands), to  
experimentally assess the response of corals to simulated short-term  
variations in aragonite saturation state and to identify synergetic  
effects of oscillating pCO2, temperature and nutrient supply on  
calcification.

The Ph.D. student will be based in Germany with extended research  
periods abroad.

We invite applicants with a Masters degree or equivalent in marine  
biology/ecology, environmental sciences or oceanography. Applicants  
must be fluent in English. Relevant experience in field research,  
ocean acidification and scientific diving are important assets.  
Candidates are expected to complete a Ph.D. thesis in 3 years.

A number of restrictions apply; the following candidates cannot be  
considered and should not apply:
?    Applicants who have resided in Germany for more than 12 months  
during the previous 3 years
?    Applicants with more than 4 years full-time equivalent research  
experience
?    Applicants with only marginal exposure to marine science

Candidates holding more than one nationality can only apply for a  
position in the country of his/her nationality in which he/she has not  
resided during the previous 5 years. Candidates from EU Member States  
or Associated countries who can provide evidence that they have  
legally resided in a third country for at least 3 out of the last 4  
years will be considered as eligible in any Member State or Associated  
country, including in their country of origin.

The position is limited to three years, starting in February 2009. The  
annual gross salary will be ? 34,307 plus extra (mobility, travel and  
career allowances).

Qualified applicants should send applications (including CV, a brief  
letter of motivation, and e-mail addresses of two referees) with the  
reference 87/Bio to: Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und  
Meeresforschung, Personalabteilung, PO Box 12 01 61, D-27515  
Bremerhaven; http://www.awi.de

Applications can also be sent by e-mail with the reference 87/Bio in  
the subject line to crichter at awi.de (single file pdf, max. 10 pages  
only; other formats, longer applications, multiple files etc. will not  
be considered).

Closing date for the receipt of applications is 16 January 2009. Only  
short-listed candidates will be notified.

AWI is an equal opportunity employer. AWI supports the employment of  
disabled persons. Disabled applicants with appropriate qualifications  
and aptitudes will be preferentially selected. AWI supports balanced  
work-life career development via a variety of alternatives.