PhD Social Ageing: Social environment effects on senescence

Afdeling

Faculty of Science and Engineering

Organisatie

Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, University of Groningen, V25.0482

Functiebeschrijving

The Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences (GELIFES - https://www.rug.nl/research/gelifes/) offers a 4-year NWO M1-funded PhD position for a project on “Social Ageing: Social environment effects on senescence, using an epigenetic clock”, with the Seychelles warbler (Acrocephalus sechellensis) as a model system.

The project is supervised by Prof. Hannah Dugdale (University of Groningen), Prof. David S. Richardson (University of East Anglia, UK) and Prof. Kees van Oers (Netherlands Institute of Ecology). The project is in collaboration with Profs Jan Komdeur (University of Groningen) and Terry Burke (University of Sheffield, UK), as part of the Seychelles warbler research group. The student will join a lively and highly international team of PhD and Master’s students working on ecology and evolution in wild animals, supported by laboratory and analytical technicians.

Social interactions (stemming from the social environment) can delay or exacerbate an individual’s ageing (the decline in function in later life), but as individuals age, their social environment also changes. Why social environment effects impact ageing is obscure, probably because we lack detailed natural-population studies, and because past studies have largely focused on chronological rather than biological age (i.e., a measure of physiological deterioration reflecting future life expectancy).

Social Ageing will overcome these limitations using a long-term dataset of a discrete population of cooperatively breeding birds, where survival and reproductive success are accurately measured, which is vital for studying ageing but is rare in wild populations. We will analyse longitudinal changes in social networks and biological age (using an epigenetic clock) within individuals to reveal the effect of social stress on ageing. In particular, we will estimate genotype-by-age effects on sociality, investigate the genetic architecture of sociality (e.g. GWAS and regional heritability), estimate selection on sociality, and evaluate social environment effects on senescence. Importantly, this knowledge will advance our understanding, in evolutionary biology, conservation and medicine, of how social stress causes ageing and can potentially be mitigated in animals.

The candidate will be required to:

- Design, plan and conduct a programme of investigation, in consultation with the supervisors.
- Produce a PhD thesis, written in English, consisting of four data chapters, an introduction and a discussion at the level of international scientific journals.
- Disseminate the research through publication in leading peer-reviewed journals, presentations at international conferences, outreach, social media etc.
- Conduct fieldwork over three field seasons, of up to three months per season.
- Conduct laboratory work to develop a biological clock using a methylation approach.
- Collaborate with other researchers on the long-term project and other relevant groups.
- Contribute to teaching 10% of the time, by supervising BSc and MSc students, and assisting on courses.

Organisation
Founded in 1614, the University of Groningen enjoys an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative institution of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Flexible study programmes and academic career opportunities in a wide variety of disciplines encourage the 33,000 students and researchers alike to develop their own individual talents. As one of the best research universities in Europe, the University of Groningen has joined forces with other top universities and networks worldwide to become a truly global centre of knowledge.

Functie-eisen

We are looking for a candidate who:

- Holds a Master degree in evolutionary biology (or will graduate before appointment date), ideally with distinction, and one year of research during the Master.
- Is curiosity-driven and passionate about fundamental research in the context of evolutionary biology and ecology.
- Has strong bioinformatic skills (python, ideally experience with methylation data).
- Has strong quantitative skills (analyses of long-term data, modelling and statistical analyses, particularly quantitative genetics, ideally in the R environment).
- Is proficient in English and meets the university’s English language requirements (https://www.rug.nl/education/phd-programmes/prospective/phd-positions/english-language-requirements?lang=en)

The ideal candidate will also have:

- Data wrangling experience in extracting data from databases (e.g. Access) or large datasets.
- Fieldwork experience on birds (mist-netting, colour-ring reading, behavioural observations) in a harsh environment.
- Laboratory skills in the field of molecular ecology (e.g. DNA extraction and quantification, PCR, library prep).
- Written at least one scientific publication.
- Strong communication skills, and is motivated to disseminate results to both scientific peers and a broad audience.
- Excellent teamwork skills, and is willing to work with a diverse group of researchers and technicians, and can also work independently.

Arbeidsvoorwaarden

Contractduur: 48 months.

We offer you in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

- A salary of € 3,059 gross per month in the first year, up to € 3,881 gross per month in the fourth and final year, based on a full-time position (1.0 FTE).
- A holiday allowance of 8% gross annual income and an 8.3% year-end bonus.
- A full-time position (1.0 FTE) for 48 months (4 years). The successful candidate will first be offered a temporary position of one year with the option of renewal for another 3 years.
- Prolongation of the contract is contingent on sufficient progress in the first year to indicate that a successful completion of the PhD thesis within the next 3 years is to be expected.
- A PhD training programme is part of the agreement and the successful candidate will be enrolled in the Graduate School of Science and Engineering at the University of Groningen.

The preferred starting date is no later than 1 February 2026

Sollicitatie

The application should include: - A letter of motivation to apply for this position. - A curriculum vitae. - A one-page research proposal for the PhD project. - Contact details of two professional references. - Transcripts from your Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. You may apply for this position until 5 October 11:59pm / before 6 October 2025 Dutch local time (CET) by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website). Provisional interview dates are 15th/16th October 2025. The University of Groningen strives to be a university in which students and staff are respected and feel at home, regardless of differences in background, experiences, perspectives, and identities. We believe that working on our core values of inclusion and equality are a joint responsibility and we are constructively working on creating a socially safe environment. Diversity among students and staff members enriches academic debate and contributes to the quality of our teaching and research. We therefore invite applicants from underrepresented groups in particular to apply. For more information, see also our diversity policy webpage: https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/policy-and-strategy/diversity-and-inclusion/ Our selection procedure follows the guidelines of the Recruitment code (NVP): https://www.nvp-hrnetwerk.nl/nl/sollicitatiecode and European Commission's European Code of Conduct for recruitment of researchers: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/code Unsolicited marketing is not appreciated.

Meer informatie

Voor meer informatie over deze vacature kunt u contact opnemen met:

Prof. Hannah Dugdale
+31 50 3639683
[email protected]

Noemt u in uw sollicitatie altijd het vacaturenummer V25.0482

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