Australian Postgraduate Award Industry (APAI) PhD Scholarship in plant/seed ecology (Biological Sciences) 

Potential impacts of climate change on plant species are poorly understood, whilst the conservation of biodiversity is critical to environmental management. It is therefore important to understand mechanisms linking population processes to environmental change, however, this is hampered by a lack of population-level data.

An APAI scholarship is available for study towards a PhD as part of a recently awarded ARC Linkage Grant. The PhD candidate will have the opportunity to develop a project with researchers from the University of Wollongong (Australia) in collaboration with scientists from the partner organisation NSW Government Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) and the University of Sheffield (UK) to investigate the relationship between climatic variation, plant demographic processes and the potential for species to adapt to such changes.

The PhD candidate should be a highly motivated Honours or Masters (or equivalent) graduate, with a strong background in plant ecology, seed ecology, ecological genetics or botany. The APAI full-time stipend rate is $27 222 pa tax exempt and there is a $2 500 top up offered by the partner organisation (OEH). Duration is  3 years and candidates may apply for a 6 month extension for research related reasons. The scholarship is for study in Australia and there is no restriction on citizenship.

Contact person:

Applications should be sent via email to Dr. Mark Ooi (mooi@uow.edu.au) and should include a covering letter, a copy of academic transcripts and a CV that includes the names and email contacts of two referees.

Application deadline: 3rd February 2012 or until position filled