Research Associate (Biodiversity & Evolution)

University of Sheffield; Sheffield; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 38,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading research institution in the UK is seeking a motivated Research Associate to investigate the links between animal visual signal diversity and visual perception biases. This role requires a PhD in a relevant field, strong analytical skills, and experience with programming languages like R and Python. Join a dynamic research team and contribute to vital scientific discoveries in biodiversity and evolution.

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent experience in a relevant subject area.
• Interest in biodiversity, evolution, neuroscience and/or machine learning.
• Strong analytical and quantitative skillset.

Responsibilities

• Lead the investigation of research questions related to visual perception.
• Execute data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
• Prepare manuscripts for publication.

Skills

Analytical skills

Programming languages (R, Python)

Education

PhD in relevant subject area

Job description

Overview

University of Sheffield. We have an exciting opportunity for a motivated and enthusiastic individual interested in biodiversity, evolution, neuroscience and machine learning to join the Leverhulme Trust funded research project ‘Perceptual bias and the evolution of organismal communication signals’ as a Research Associate.

The project will make use of recent advances in computational neuroscience, machine learning and image analysis to investigate questions linking animal visual signal diversity to biases in visual perception.

You will lead the investigation of research questions probing these links and be responsible for important aspects of project execution including data collection, analysis and interpretation, and manuscript preparation. This is an excellent opportunity to work on a project at the intersection of biological and computer science research domains.

Responsibilities

• Lead the investigation of research questions probing the links between animal visual signal diversity and biases in visual perception.
• Execute project tasks including data collection, analysis and interpretation.
• Prepare manuscripts for publication.

Qualifications

• Applicants must hold a PhD (or equivalent experience) in a relevant subject area along with an interest in biodiversity, evolution, neuroscience and/or machine learning.
• Strong analytical and quantitative skillset and experience of programming languages (e.g. R, Python) are essential.

Supervision and Team

This post will be supervised by Dr Christopher Cooney and will involve working closely with other project team members. The research group is embedded within the world-class Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Research Cluster, part of the School of Biosciences at the University of Sheffield.

Diversity Statement

We build teams of people from different heritages and lifestyles from across the world, whose talent and contributions complement each other to greatest effect. We believe diversity in all its forms delivers greater impact through research, teaching and student experience.