PhD - Ecology and Management of Grassland

Ecology and Management of Grassland

Project Description

The research group Ecology and Management of Grassland is seeking a highly motivated PhD student to join their international research team which is based at Grassland Research Station in Liberec. The main focus of the research group is Grassland Ecology. We offer one fully funded position covering up to 4 years of study. The PhD student will be rewarded with university scholarship upto 10,000 CZK/month net and 0.5 position at Crop Research Institute (about 10,000-12,000 CZK/month net), altogether 20,000-25,000 CZK/month net which can fully cover a student life in Liberec.

Background
Structure of temperate grasslands is affected by several factors such as soil, climate and management. However, it is still unclear whether management or nutrient content in the soil is the key factor affecting the structure of meadow communities. The work will be based on data collection and analysis from a long-term manipulative experiment (cutting, grazing) that are based in the Jizerske hory Mountains. It requires the presence of the student in Grassland Research station in Liberec which is also a joint workplace of the Czech University of Life Sciences and the Crop Research Production v.v.i. (CRI) “Management and ecology of permanent grasslands”,. The presence of the student on full time basis, especially during the vegetation season is mandatory.. The research team collaborates mainly with the following institutions: Goettingen University, Technical University Dresden, Wroclaw University and Aberystwyth University. Two EU projects has been solved by the research team in the last two years: “Grass Biomass as a Renewable Energy Resource – Biodiversity-Biomass-Biogas”and “A Sustainable Management of Grassland for Support of Biodiversity”.
Instructions on how to apply:

Please apply electronically by email to Ms. Petra Kadlecova (phdstudies@fzp.czu.cz) attaching the requested documentation to support your application (max. size of 20 MB), including:
a) cover letter in which applicants describe themselves and their particular research interests, including contributions to the described research project (one page);
b) CV (one page) with publication list;
c) PDF of applicant’s Master thesis (or a summary text if the thesis is not yet completed);
d) Contact details of at least two references (e.g. your diploma thesis supervisor and reviewer). 

Requirements:

• MSc. degree in the field of ecology or agriculture
• Experience in data analysis and statistics;
• Good knowledge of English language,
• Field work and data collection experience; 

Please note that this is just a pre-selection. The selected candidate will be invited to submit official application to the Faculty of Environmental Sciences. 

The Faculty of Environmental Science (FES) is the leading university for education, research, development and skilled experts in the field of environment. Doctoral studies at the FES are full-time and lasts 4 years. Subjects are taught in Czech and English. 

We at FES are open to new ideas and will not hesitate to support promising projects and young researchers. We understand the needs of doctoral students, and we therefore offer them a wide range of professional support:

• scholarship system based on student performance, including rewards for publishing,
• possibility of financing projects from faculty resources and external sources,
• free access to specialized databases (Web of Science, etc.),