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Postdoctoral Research Associate (empirical ecology)

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 experimental plant ecology. 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 experimentally test hypotheses that describe how alien plants can reduce community diversity. Core research for the PDRA will include: co-designing and establishing a new field experiment at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, Minnesota, US to quantify impacts of sown plant invaders released from natural insect and fungal attack; and analysing existing data from experiments in central Europe to quantify impacts of invaders on grassland communities. The enemy release experiment will involve day-to-day coordination and administration of the experiment, collection of field and trait data (and associated lab work), and supervision of research assistants in the field. Key collaborators include Prof. Mark van Kleunen (U. Konstanz), Prof. David Tilman (U. Minnesota) and other members of the ALIENIMPACTS team. There will opportunities for additional related research.

The work requires extended research visits to CCESR (COVID-permitting, up to 3 months/year, costs covered by project), a large ecological research station owned and operated by the University of Minnesota and one of the oldest Long-Term Ecological Research sites in the USA. Contingency plans are in place if COVID continues to restrict travel and limit lab/fieldwork.

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, though a slightly later 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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