[Coral-List] Internships at Biodiversity Research Centre, Academia Sinica, Taiwan

[shashank Keshavmurthy]

Dear Coral-listers


We would like to anounce several internships at the laboratory of Dr. Allen Chen,  Biodiversity Research Centre, Academia Sinica Taiwan.
Please pass it along to interested students
The internships will be generally for 3 - 6 months depending on the type and amount of work.  Also, if there is any student who is already enrolled in Masters course in any university can also apply and include the work done here in Taiwan in their master thesis, provided the interest of the research fits into the below mentioned categories.

We are running several projects simultaneously and interested candidates can express their interests and send us a detailed CV and a brief description of their interests. It is also possible to develop candidates own interest of research if it fits into any of the below mentioned categories. The details of the projects are as follows;


Project 1: Effect of thermal pollution on coral life history traits
Mortality, growth and
reproduction are fundamental traits characterizing the life cycle of
scleractinian corals. To analyze the effect of seawater temperature elevation
on the life history traits of different corals species, these traits of
different tagged colonies will be monitored in
situ at two different sites characterized by different thermal regime in
the Kenting National Park, southern Taiwan. Parameters related to the holobiont
(growth, protein content, etc.) and their zooxanthellae (phylotype of the Symbiodinium and their relative
abundance, chlorophyll content, density, etc.) will be regularly monitored to
estimate the physiological conditions of the colonies along the study. 

Project 2:Reciprocal transplantation of targeted corals
across different thermal regimes
Reciprocal transplant
experiments between contrasting environments are commonly used to analyze
acclimatization capacities in coral species. In this study, 3 common coral
species will be cross-transplanted between sites characterized by different
thermal regime in the Kenting National Park, southern Taiwan. Parameters
related to the holobiont (growth, protein content, etc.) and their
zooxanthellae (phylotype of the Symbiodinium and their relative abundance, chlorophyll content, density, etc.) will be
monitored in situ and analyzed in
laboratory after regular sampling.

Project 3: Coral holobiont connectivity
The relationship
between coral host and key symbiont – zooxanthellae (Symbiodinium spp.) plays a pivotal role in maintaining the health
of corals in general.  Although many
studies have been conducted to examine host genetic connectivity over the
decades to understand how coral populations are connected through larval
dispersal and other mechanisms, we just begin to uncover the impacts of the
symbioint genetic difference on the whole holobiont acclimatization or
adaptation. This is an important mechanism for us to evaluate how coral
holobionts react to the future environmental change. Studies on corals exposed
to thermal effluent from a nuclear power plant in the Kenting National Part,
Taiwan and comparing this with those present in adjacent areas at small scale
or extending large-scale sampling to the South China Sea or Kuroshio region
will give idea about how different coral-zooxanthellae systems cope with
similar stress.

The candidates: We seek MSc students in Marine Science or Life
Science for each of the above projects (those already enrolled for Masters are also welcome to apply). A good background and/or a strong
interest in coral physiology, ecology and molecular biology is/are required. An
experience in designing aquarium tank experiments would also be preferable. Ideal
candidate should be particularly enthusiastic and dynamics. As this study will
involve substantial fieldwork that involves scuba-diving. 

Starting date:January 2012

Duration: 3-6 months period

Compensation: Free accommodation at the Research Station
and a stipend of 8000 NT$ per month. All these projects can be developed into
independent PhD theses and enrolled in the Taiwan International Graduate
Program (TIGP)-Biodiversity, Academia Sinica, starting from summer, 2012.

Interested candidates should submit a letter of interest and a CV in a single
pdf file. Send  applications to: Dr. Allen
Chen: cac at gate.sinica.edu.tw, Dr. Shahsank Keshavmurthy: shashank at gate.sinica.edu.tw, Dr. Vianney Dennis: vdenis at gate.sinica.edu.tw


Best
Shashank
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Whether our efforts are, or not, favored by life, let us be able to say, when we come near the great goal,I have done what I could - Louis Pasteur


Role of Infinitely Small in Nature is Infinitely Large - Louis Pasteur
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Keshavmurthy Shashank
Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Dr. Chen's lab
Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica (RCBAS)
128 Academia Road Sec. 2, Nankang 
Taipei 115 Taiwan.
My WebPage: http://web.me.com/coralresearch/shashank/Welcome.html
Lab WebPage: http://coral.biodiv.tw/Default.aspx
Alt. E-mail: shashank at gate.sinica.edu.tw, coralresearch at mac.com