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Research Associate (Ecological Modelling)

Employer
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Location
London (Greater)
Salary
£38,304 Per annum, Including London Weighting
Closing date
7 Mar 2021

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Academic Discipline
Social Sciences, Geography
Job Type
Research Related, Research Associate
Contract Type
Fixed Term
Hours
Full Time

Job Details

Job description

The Department of Geography at King's College London invites applications for a postdoctoral research associate (PDRA) in ecological modelling. The post will be based in the research team of Dr Jane Catford at KCL's Strand Campus in central London, and will be one of four new PDRA appointments.

The position will be funded by a 5-year European Research Council Consolidator Grant (ALIENIMPACTS). ALIENIMPACTS aims to develop an approach for predicting impacts of alien plant invasions on plant community diversity, using temperate grasslands as a model system.

This post will help to develop new models, and a modelling approach, to predict the establishment and abundance of invading plant species in a site, and the resulting impact on plant community diversity. Core research for the PDRA will include: further developing and empirically validating a mechanistic model of invasion impacts using data from field experiments; and generalising the model to predict current and future impacts of “natural” alien plant invasions in grasslands in the UK, Czech Republic and SE Australia. An initial version of the mechanistic model has been built and applied to experiments at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, one of the oldest Long-Term Ecological Research sites in the USA. The post involves: working with a wide range of data and collaborators, including practitioners; model development, coding, parameterisation and validation; and a willingness and ability to work with a wide range of modelling approaches and tools, such as mechanistic niche modelling, dynamic range models, coupled niche-population models, agent based modelling, and GIS.

Key collaborators include Dr Laura Graham (U. Birmingham), Dr Adam Clark (U. Graz), Prof. David Tilman (U. Minnesota), Prof. Petr Pysek (Czech Academy of Science), Prof. James Bullock (UK CEH) and other members of the ALIENIMPACTS team. There will opportunities for additional related research.

The Department of Geography is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, and has a vibrant, friendly and international research culture, which includes approximately 30 postdocs and 100 PhD students. The PDRA will be part of an active group of ecologists in the department, and will have many opportunities for professional development including funding to attend meetings and workshops, and opportunities to co-mentor students and collaborate with other scientists and groups.

The post will be responsible to Jane Catford. The project and position begin in April 2021, but a slightly delayed start date will be considered if required. For questions or further information, please email jane.catford@kcl.ac.uk.

Contract Type

This post will be offered on an fixed-term contract for 36 months (3 years).

This is advertised as a full-time post (100% full time equivalent), but flexible working arrangements will be considered.

Company

King's College London is one of the top 20 universities in the world and among the oldest in England. King's has more than 27,600 students (of whom nearly 10,500 are graduate students) from some 150 countries worldwide, and some 6,800 staff.

King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) King’s was ranked 6th nationally in the ‘power’ ranking, which takes into account both the quality and quantity of research activity, and 7th for quality according to Times Higher Education rankings. Eighty-four per cent of research at King’s was deemed ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (3* and 4*). The university is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of more than £684 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.

King’s £600 million campaign, World questions|KING’s answers, has delivered huge global impact in areas where King’s has particular expertise. Philanthropic support has funded new research to save young lives at Evelina London Children’s Hospital; established the King’s Dickson Poon School of Law as a worldwide leader in transnational law; built a new Cancer Centre at Guy’s Hospital; allowed unique collaboration between leading neuroscientists to fast-track new treatments for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, motor neurone disease, depression and schizophrenia at the new Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute; created the Cicely Saunders Institute: the first academic institution in the world dedicated to palliative care, and supported the King’s Sierra Leone Partnership in the Ebola crisis. Donations provide over 300 of the most promising students with scholarships and bursaries each year. More information about the campaign is available at www.kcl.ac.uk/kingsanswers.

Company info
Mini-site
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Telephone
+(44)02078365454
Location
STRAND
LONDON
WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

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