项目介绍

2024年11月29日

The Human Ecology Group of the Institute of Evolutionary Medicine (IEM) Institute of Evolutionary Medicine at the University of Zurich, led by Prof. Adrian Jaeggi, is inviting applications from prospective PhD students. Applicants must hold a master’s degree by the time of the appointment, and will earn their PhD through the evolutionary biology PhD program (https://www.evobio.uzh.ch/en.html). The ideal candidate has a background in evolutionary biology, anthropology, or related fields, with a strong interest in working on human behavior, biology and health. Applicants are encouraged to propose their own projects, that would ideally synergize well with the group’s core interests and strengths in behavioral ecology, social evolution, behavioral endocrinology, and human biological variation, with topics of current research including cooperation and conflict, life history variation, personality and neurodiversity, oxytocin (and other hormones), stress and mental health. Empirically, we conduct quantitative anthropological fieldwork among the Indigenous Tsimane people of lowland Bolivia, but other approaches and/or field sites will be considered. Our group also has recognized strengths in statistical methods, especially phylogenetic comparative analyses and multilevel modeling more broadly.

Your responsibilities

Propose, develop and conduct a PhD project in the course of four years. Earn a number of course credits and teaching hours PhD Program in Evolutionary Biology. Actively contribute to meetings, seminar, and journal clubs of the Human Ecology Group and IEM.

Your profile

Successful candidates must have a Master of Science or equivalent to enroll in the PhD program. Your background should be in biology, anthropology, or a related field, you are interested in human behavior, biology and health, and you have proven skills in scientific writing and quantitative data analysis using R.

In addition to receiving competitive funding and developing their own project, the successful candidates will be embedded in an academic environment with many opportunities for professional growth and development. As members of the Human Ecology Group, the PhD students will benefit from strong training in behavioral-ecological theory and statistical methods. As part of the world’s only department dedicated specifically to evolutionary medicine, you will learn to better understand health and disease from an evolutionary perspective, and you get to interact with a highly interdisciplinary group of biologists, anthropologists, epidemiologists and medical doctors. Through the Evolutionary Biology PhD program you will be connected to relevant students and professors in other departments, such as the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, or the Department of Evolutionary Biology. Together with major interdisciplinary initiatives like the URPP Evolution in Action or the NCCR Evolving Language, this makes the University of Zurich one of the world’s premier locations to study (human) evolutionary biology.

Information on your application

Applicants should submit as a single pdf file:
1) a cover letter describing their background and motivation for applying to this position as well as the research project they would like to propose
2) a CV
3) a writing sample (e.g. master thesis, journal article)
4) transcripts showing all university courses taken and grades received
5) names and contact information of up to three references

Start date is flexible, though the position would ideally be filled by mid 2025. Review of applications will begin by January 31, 2025, but later submissions may be considered until the position is filled. PhD students earn internationally competitive salaries of about 50’000 Swiss Francs.

Further information

Questions about the job

Adrian JaeggiVice Director, Head Human Ecology Group