<div dir="ltr"><div><br clear="all"></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span style="color:rgb(36,36,36);font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Sent on behalf of </span><strong class="gmail_sendername" dir="auto">Fernando Amin Fleites Ayil</strong> <span dir="auto"><<a href="mailto:fernandoamin.fleitesayil@ucr.edu">fernandoamin.fleitesayil@ucr.edu</a>></span></p></div></div></div><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr"><br></div><div dir="ltr"><div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="margin:0px"><span style="font-family:-webkit-system-font,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif"><b>From: </b></span><span style="font-family:-webkit-system-font,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif">wil50772 <<a href="mailto:lena.wilfert@ur.de" target="_blank">lena.wilfert@ur.de</a>><br></span></div><div style="margin:0px"><span style="font-family:-webkit-system-font,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif"><b>Subject: </b></span><span style="font-family:-webkit-system-font,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif"><b>PhD Position available</b><br></span></div><div style="margin:0px"><span style="font-family:-webkit-system-font,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif"><b>Date: </b></span><span style="font-family:-webkit-system-font,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif">24 November 2025 at 20:48:49 CET<br></span></div><div style="margin:0px"><span style="font-family:-webkit-system-font,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif"><b>To: </b></span><span style="font-family:-webkit-system-font,"Helvetica Neue",Helvetica,sans-serif">Ruth Archer <<a href="mailto:rutharcher0@gmail.com" target="_blank">rutharcher0@gmail.com</a>><br></span></div><br><div><div>Dear friends and colleagues<div><br></div><div>Ruth Archer and I have a Phd position available that we would like to advertise. It would be great if you could pass it on to anyone you think might be interested.</div><div><br></div><div>All the best</div><div><br></div><div>Lena</div><div><br></div><div><div style="margin:0cm;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">We are currently looking for a PhD student to join us on the BuggedBugs project – deadline for applications 14<sup>th</sup>of December 2025.</span></b><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="margin:0cm;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="margin:0cm;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">This 3-year PhD studentship is part of the Biodiversity Exploratories (<a href="https://www.biodiversity-exploratories.de/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">https://www.biodiversity-exploratories.de</span></a>), a large-scale long-term project to study how land use affects biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. With the project "BuggedBugs", led by Prof. Lena Wilfert and Dr Ruth Archer, we will ask how climate change and land-use interact to affect host community composition, abundance and health, and how this in turn is reflected in the biodiversity and composition of their parasite community. To do this, we will use the unique long-term Biodiversity Exploratories (data alongside samples of true bugs (Heteroptera) and their parasites collected since 2008. Collectively, this will expand our understanding of an important but hidden axis of biodiversity (parasites) and what they tell us about ecosystem health.</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="margin:0cm;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="margin:0cm;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The PhD student will use powerful molecular approaches to characterize the parasite communities of some preserved true-bug samples, but also go out into the field to collect recent samples. The candidate will help ID and phenotype the true bugs, so that we can relate land-use and climate to both these important insects, as well as the parasites they host. Accordingly, skills in the following would be advantageous: molecular biology, taxonomy, morphometrics and confidence with the statistical program R and willingness to learn ecological modelling approaches. This project is part of a multi-team and long-term program across Germany, using interdisciplinary approaches to study how land-use affects biodiversity and ecosystem processes. It offers excellent opportunities for training, collaboration and networking with leading institutes in ecology. The PhD student will be part of Prof. Wilfert’s group at the University of Regensburg, embedded in the new focal research group on biotic interactions in the Anthropocene </span><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica">(</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><a href="https://go.ur.de/biotic-interactions" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(149,79,114)">https://go.ur.de/biotic-interactions</span></a>); the student will also be part of the local grad school (<a href="https://www.rigel-regensburg.de/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">https://www.rigel-regensburg.de</span></a>)</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">. </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="margin:0cm;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="margin:0cm;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The position will start on the 1<sup>st</sup> of March 2026; it is for three years and the salary is TV-L E13 65%.</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><u></u><u></u></span></div><div style="margin:0cm;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span><span style="font-size:13.5pt"><u></u><u></u></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0cm 0cm 5pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">For more information and to apply please contact <a href="mailto:lena.wilfert@ur.de" target="_blank"><span style="color:rgb(149,79,114)">lena.wilfert@ur.de</span></a>. To apply, please send your CV and a cover letter by the 14<sup>th</sup> of December. </span></p></div></div></div></blockquote></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div>
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