PhD Scholarship in Coral Reef Sedimentology and Stratigraphy

The objective of the research project is to investigate the biologic and geologic response of the Great Barrier Reef to sea level and climate changes over the last 30 ka by generating and linking new observational data with numerical modeling

Study Subject: Sciences and Engineering
Employer: The University of Sydney
Level: PhD
Scholarship Description: This scholarship is funded by an ARC Discovery Project grant and will provide support for 3 years on a full-time basis for a research project leading to a PhD. The objective of the research project is to investigate the biologic and geologic response of the Great Barrier Reef to sea level and climate changes over the last 30 ka by generating and linking new observational data with numerical modelling. The project will investigate a unique suite of sediment cores and other data collected on the recent Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition (325) http://www.eso.ecord.org/expeditions/325/325.php and the site survey cruise (http://www.marine.csiro.au/nationalfacility/voyagedocs/2007/summarySS07-2007.pdf).

Eligibility:

Applicants should have an Honours 1 or 2A degree (or equivalent) in earth and/or environmental science. Experience/background in carbonate sedimentology, coral reef biology and geology and/or numerical modelling of earth systems would be an advantage.

Amount awarded:
The scholarship stipend is $26,669 in 2010 (tax exempt).
Scholarship Application Deadline: 15 January 2011
Further scholarship Information and Application

Scholarships women The Agris Mundus Masters course is a two-year training programme of 120 ECTS

The Agris Mundus Masters course is a two-year training programme of 120 ECTS (European Credits Transfer System) in agricutural development and management of natural resources.

The Agris Mundus Masters course objectives are to train students to cope with the current global/international concerns in agriculture and rural development. Graduates will be qualified to identify and critically analyse key factors shaping the development of crops, forests and animall production, the management of research and rural development projects and finally, the sustainable use of natural resources and the environment. They will be trained to formulate and provide effective and appropriate responses to complex agriculture and natural resources related issues.

As the result of the selection of the Agris Mundus Master course by the Erasmus Mundus programme, the European Commission provides a number of scholarships.

Host Institution(s):

Listed below are the members of the Consortium:

• Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR), the agricultural university in the Netherlands, with a strong experience in developing countries, specially in the domain of agricultural development

• University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Life Sciences, is one of the european leading university in the areas of food, health, plants, natural resources, environment with a recognised expertise in agricultural development in the third countries.

• University College of Cork (UCC), which hosts one of the well-known colleges in Ireland for agriculture and food industries

• Universita degli Studi di Catania, the university in Sicilia, Italy, with a high experience in mediterranean crops and animals

• Universidad Politecnica de Madrid the university in Spain which carries for years a deep involvement in the support to local development in Europe and the Americas.The UPM contribution to the Agris Mundus Master course is organized with the cooperation of Infodal Foundation

• Montpellier SupAgro, (Agropolis Montpellier) the specialised training institution in France for agricultural systems in the mediterranean, the tropics and the subtropics.

Field of study:

Master of Science in Agricultural Development and Management of Natural Resources

Number of Awards:

15-30 scholarships are usually offered each year to the Agris Mundus master course by the Erasmus Mundus Programme of the European Union.

Target group:

The Erasmus Mundus programme is open to:

1. the 27 Member States of the EU: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.

2. the countries of the European Economic Area / European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway)

3. the third countries (all the other countries of the world)

Scholarship value/inclusions:

Monthly allowance of Eur. 1,000 per month (for 12 months) plus travel expenses, contribution to installation and any other type of costs worth Eur. 4,000 per year.

Eligibility:

All the students, irrespective of their country of origin or of the training track they candidate to, are subjected to the same criteria.

• Bachelor of Sciences (180 ECTS) in a field related to agricultural development or a BA in the Social Sciences or equivalent

• Verified excellent quality of the institution where this first degree was obtained

• Excellent academic background with marks identifying the candidate among the 20% best students of his former studies (BSc or BA degree with honours 1st class or 2nd class minimum)

• Strongly convincing letter of motivation

• 2 letters of support from referees.

Only candidates who are able to show evidence of a very good level and well-constructed motivation have a chance to be admitted. Preference will be given to candidates with appropriate professional experience and strongly convincing recommendations by an academic or a professional body. Candidates who cannot show evidence of such criteria are invited to refrain from applying.

Additional eligibility criteria for the scholarships:

a) to be a citizen of a third-country : all countries other than the 27 States of the European Union and the associated states [Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway], Turkey, Switzerland, Albania, Bosnie-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Former Yugoslavia, Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia;

b) not residing in any UE Member State or participating country;

c) to have not carried out his/her main activity (studies, work, etc.) for more than a total of 12 months the last five years in any of the UE Member States or participating countries, at the date of the application.

Application instructions:

Application forms and instructions can be downloaded from this page. A useful document to any applicant to the Agris Mundus Master can be downloaded at this link (word document). 2011-2013 Applications for both admission to the course and the Erasmus Mundus scholarship will open around December 2010 and will close around January 2011. See the official website (link below) around October 2010 for the official call of applications.

It is important to visit the official website (link found below) for detailed information on how to apply for this scholarship.

Website:

Official Scholarship Website: http://www.agrismundus.eu/agris-mundus/

PhD Scholarship : Molecular Ecology and Ecological Epigenetics in plants

Evolutionary adaptation is generally considered to be the result of natural selection on fenotypes and their associated genotype. Recently however, evidence is accumulating that epigenetic processes, such as DNA methylation and chromatin modification, may play an important role in the short-term adaptation of plants to rapidly changing environmentats, such as are the consequence of climate change.

In a European wide project (EpiCOL), considering the role of epigenetic regulation mechanisms as an alternative means towards adaptation in plants, we work on delivering “proof of principle” for the ecological and evolutionary significance of epigenetic variation. The project is a cooperation between ecologists, evolutionary biologists and epigenomicists from France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands.

The Dutch part of the EpiCOL project focuses on:
1) assessing naturally occurring epigenetic variation within populations of the plant species Scabiosa columbaria at a European scale
2) finding experimental support for induction of DNA methylation through environmental stress factors
3) delivering evidence that epigenetic markers (or parts thereof) are stably inherited
4) assessing the relationship between environmental stress, inbreeding level (as a consequence of habitat fragmentation) and epigenetic regulation.

This part will be a combination of field studies, greenhouse experiments and molecular analyses, more specifically MS-AFLP, qPCR and RNAseq studies. You will occasionally spend several weeks at the labs of the European EpiCOL partners.

The position will have to result in a Dutch PhD degree according to Dutch requirements.

Requirements
You have:
- a recently obtained MSc degree in a molecular ecological discipline;
- basic knowledge of population genetics;
- knowledge of, and are skilled in, molecular techniques, especially PCR and DNA and RNA extraction, and in setting up ecological greenhouse experiments;
- good writing skills.

Organization
The project will be carried out in the Molecular Ecology Group of the Institute for Water and Wetland Research of Radboud University Nijmegen. The group’s research lines include conservation genetics, ecological genomics of plants, and ecological epigenetics. The main theme is establishing the relationship between population size and isolation, on the one hand, and genetic variation, inbreeding level and increased probabilities of extinction, in association with habitat deterioration, on the other. Part of he research involves working with neutral genetic markers such as microsatellites and AFLPs. Another important line is directed towards population genomics and finding evidence for the impact of habitat fragmentation on functional genes and their activity. Scabiosa columbaria, which is an endangered species in the Netherlands, is used as a model throughout the research. A (partial) 454 based transcriptome sequence is available, and more than 10.000 SNPs, hundreds of EST-SSRs, and routine protocols for DNA methylation study are available for this species. Recently, an ecological epigenetics line has been started up, which aims to investigate in what way DNA methylation could be important for rapid adaptation to rapidly changing environmental conditions. A central theme in all lines is how inbreeding affects gene expression, and how inbreeding might disrupt epigenetic regulation mechanisms.
The institute is well equipped, has a very modern molecular lab, and greenhouse and growth facilities. The institute also has access to next generation sequencing facilities, more specifically 454 and Illumina sequencers.
Website: http://www.ru.nl/molecularecology

Conditions of employment
Employment: 1,0 fte
Maximum salary per month, based on a fulltime employment: € 2,612 gross/month
The starting salary is €2,042 per month and will increase to €2,612 per month in the fourth year.
PhD scale.
Duration of the contract: 4 years.

Additional conditions of employment
You will be appointed as a PhD student for four years. Your performance will be evaluated after 18 months. If the evaluation is positive, the contract will be extended by 2.5 years.

Additional Information
Dr. Joop Ouborg
Telephone: +31 24 3652470
E-mail: j.ouborg@science.ru.nl

Application
You can apply for the job (mention the vacancy number 62.15.10) before 8 November 2010 by sending your application -preferably by email- to:
RU Nijmegen, FNWI, P&O, mr. M. Frieling
P.O. Box 9010, 6500 GL Nijmegen, NL
Telephone: +31 24 3652294
E-mail: pz@science.ru.nl

Asian Youth Fellowship (AYF)

Asian Youth Fellowship (AYF) Program aims to nurture human networking among ASEAN countries, Bangladesh and Japan. The AYF preparatory course before entering Japanese Graduate School as Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) scholarship student is offered by The Japan Foundation. AYF program is open to university graduates in the region who wish to contribute to regional cooperation after obtaining a Master and/or Ph. D. Degree in Japanese Graduate Schools as follows:

Features of the Asian Youth Fellowship Program

AYF consists of the following component:

• Coordination of a host professor and research plan development during the preparatory course in Japan
• Preparatory course (Japanese Language and cultural activities)
• Follow ups after completing the preparatory course

The scholarship grantees shall receive a preparatory course in the Japanese language for approximately 7 months, at The Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute, Kansai, Japan. The preparatory course is developed for people who have never learned Japanese language before. Grantees are provided with dormitory. Accompanying family is NOT allowed during the preparatory course.

After completing the preparatory course, grantees will be proceeding to Japanese graduate schools as Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) scholarship students (principally Research Student) .

Field of Study

• Any of the fields in Humanities, Social Sciences, Engineering and Natural Science is acceptable..
• Students pursuing study areas that would contribute to his/her country or region will be given preference.
• * Technical training course is excluded.

Qualifications

1. Nationality: Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand or Vietnam.
2. Age: under 35 years of age as of April 1, 2010 (i.e. born on or after April 2, 1975)
3. Academic Backgrounds: university or college graduates with a bachelor’s degree or Master’s degree (those who will graduate from a university or college by the Registration Day of AYF may apply, but the grants may be CANCELLED if grantees fail to arrive in Kansai on the starting day of the preparatory course.)
4. Other requirements:
   a. Good proficiency in English is required.
   b. Military men and military civilian employees registered on the personnel list are excluded.
   c. Applicants should be in good health.
   d. The applicant whose spouse has already won a Japanese Government scholarship will not be selected as a grantee, and likewise in the case of a couple applying at the same time.
   e. The applicant who has been awarded a Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) scholarship in the past will not be selected as a grantee unless he/she has had a few years' research or teaching experience after returning to his/her country.

Grant Coverage during the Preparatory Course

1. Expenses necessary for participation in the official curriculum (transportation, teaching material, etc.)
2. Meals during the program (partly in the form of cash allowances) and a set amount of allowances to cover miscellaneous living expenses.
3. Accommodation (a single room) at the Institute
4. Overseas travel insurance for disease and injury for the duration of the program
5. Round-trip, economy-class airline between the nearest international airport from the residence and Kansai International Airport (Osaka, Japan) on the most direct and economical route.
6. Japanese visa as a trainee

*The above terms of the grant will be effective for the period of the preparatory course. After completing the AYF Program, grantees will proceed to Japanese universities as the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) scholarship students. Allowances, accommodations, and other status are subject to Monbukagakusho’s regulations.

Selection

1. Japanese diplomatic missions concerned, in cooperation with the foreign governments concerned, will select preliminary candidates from among applicants by means of a review of the documents submitted.
2. Those who have been selected as the preliminary candidates will be recommended to Asian Youth Fellowship Committee, Tokyo, Japan. The Committee will select grantees from among the preliminary candidates by means of an interview made in their respective countries by a mission member assigned and dispatched by the Committee.
3. Final announcement in writing will be provided by the Embassy of Japan after the AYF Committee. The grantees of the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) scholarship will be finally selected, on condition that they have completed the AYF preparatory course successfully, after the university placement has been made.

Application Procedure

Applicants must submit the following documents according to the instruction given by the Embassy of Japan in their own country by the date appointed. The documents submitted will not be returned.

Cambodia: Embassy of JapanAmbassade du Japon, No.194 Norodom Road,P.O. Box 21, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tel: 855-23-217161Fax: 855-23-216162

Asia Science and Education for Economic Development Institute (Asia SEED)Shanghai Building 6F, 1-24-12 Shinkawa, Chuo-kuTokyo 104-0033, JapanTel: 81-3-5566-0072 Fax: 81-3-3552-7986E-Mail : ayf@asiaseed.org

Moreinfo: http://www.asiaseed.org/ayfj/