PhD Studentship: Grooming strategies of wild chimpanzees

PhD Studentship: Grooming strategies of wild chimpanzees

Hiring Organization:
School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, England

Position Description:
PhD Studentship: Grooming strategies of wild chimpanzees
School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent
Applications are invited from highly motivated and qualified students for this 3-year PhD studentship funded by The Leverhulme Trust, which will start in October 2009.

Project Outline
Detailed observations suggest that wild chimpanzees may use multiple behavioural strategies to enforce grooming reciprocation. In some bouts, participants appear to groom without conflict, whereas in others a period of ‘negotiation’ seems to occur before either termination or a prolonged reciprocal bout. In some grooming bouts, individuals appear to ‘parcel’, only grooming for a short time before stopping if there is no reciprocation. In other bouts, chimpanzees seem to ‘raise-the-stakes’, with initial brief, reciprocated, bursts of grooming gradually replaced by more sustained grooming. A version of the aptly named ‘tit-for-tat’ strategy may also apply: in some bouts individuals terminate grooming following a lack of reciprocation.
The project will investigate these strategies and test the predictions of different models for the enforcement and maintenance of reciprocity. A particular focus will be to examine reciprocity and exchange between male and female chimpanzees.
This studentship forms part of a grant to Dr Newton-Fisher from The Leverhulme Trust to investigate ‘Social Complexity, Grooming, and the Evolution of Intelligence’, and the student will have scope to be involved in the full breadth of the overall project in relation to their own developing skills and interests.

Application details

To apply, please send a CV together with the names and contact details of two referees, and a covering letter detailing both your research interests and suitability for this studentship, by 20th August 2009 to Dr Nicholas E. Newton-Fisher (N.E.Newton-Fisher@kent.ac.uk), to whom informal inquiries can also be directed. Interviews will be held shortly thereafter.

Qualifications/Experience:
The successful candidate will have a first-class or upper-second-class Honours degree, or equivalent, and/or a good Master’s in a relevant subject, a keen interest in understanding the adaptive functions of social behaviour, and excellent quantitative analytical skills.

Salary/funding:
The PhD Studentship covers tuition fees at Home/EU rates and pays an annual stipend of £13,000. The studentship also provides for IT support, attendance at international conferences and training in Observer software.

Term of Appointment:
3 years

Application Deadline:
20 August 2009

Contact Information:
Dr Nicholas Newton-Fisher
University of Kent
Canterbury, Kent, England CT2 7NZ
United Kingdom

Website:
http://www.kent.ac.uk

E-mail Address:
N.E.Newton-Fisher-at-kent.ac.uk