The Animal Behaviour & Cognition research group is looking for a PhD candidate in animal behaviour for a full-time 4-year research position. The position involves 90% research time and 10% teaching activities within the group.

The social intelligence hypothesis predicts that with increasingly complex social life, increasingly complex social cognition has evolved. As a consequence, the field of animal behaviour and cognition has focused by and large on the cognitive capacities required for navigating the social environment of a species. Recent theoretical as well as modelling advances, however, suggest that many animal, as well as human, interactions are not guided by specific cognitive considerations, but rather by emotions. Whereas these advances are well grounded in mathematical models, the proximate mechanisms behind this relation between said animal emotions and social interactions, remain unknown. In fact, several leading scholars even deny that such a thing exists, although this heavily relies on the definition of emotions.

Emotions can be considered as multifaceted constructs that operate on, at least, two dimensions, i.e. intensity and valence. To study this in animals that cannot report on their own emotions requires a multidisciplinary approach. Therefore, we propose a PhD-project that combines behavioural, acoustic, physiological and cognitive parameters, studied within different contexts for which an emotional mediation of primate interactions may be required. The project thus aims at getting a better understanding of how emotions function as mediating factors in the social life of primates.

• conduct research with the newest techniques to link primate social behaviour and emotions;
• combine observational and experimental methods involving behavioural, acoustic, physiological and cognitive measures;
• are able to integrate the knowledge of underlying proximate mechanisms with animal behaviour, cognition and evolution;
• can work in a team;
• supervise Bachelor's and Master's students.

We are looking for a candidate with the following qualifications:

• an MSc with a strong background in animal behaviour;
• the capacity to integrate different fields of knowledge (proximate and ultimate mechanisms of animal behaviour);
• experience in conducting behavioural experiments and structural observations of animal social behaviour (preferably with primates);
• the social skills to motivate people from different backgrounds to cooperate;
• practical experience with data analysis using R;
• academic writing experience;
• fluency in English, both in speech and writing.

• a full-time position for 4 years;
• a full-time gross salary starting at €2,395 in the first year and increasing to €3,061 in the fourth year (scale P Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities (cao));
• benefits including 8% holiday bonus and 8.3% end-of-year bonus;
• a pension scheme, partially paid parental leave, and flexible employment conditions based on the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities.

In addition to the employment conditions laid down in the cao for Dutch Universities, Utrecht University has a number of its own arrangements. For example, there are agreements on professional development, leave arrangements, and sports. We also give you the opportunity to expand your terms of employment via the Employment Conditions Selection Model. This is how we like to encourage you to continue to grow.

More information about working at the Faculty of Science can be found here.

The Animal Behaviour and Cognition (AB&C) group conducts research on animal social behaviour and cognition, in particular primates and birds. The AB&C-group has its own teaching line within the biology Bachelor's education and its own track Behavioural Ecology in the Master's Environmental Biology.

As a PhD candidate you will find theoretical and practical support for the study topic at the host institute; i.e. the AB&C-group of the Institute of Environmental Ecology at the Biology Department of Utrecht University. At the AB&C-group, you will be supervised by Jorg M. Massen, Anne Marijke Schel, and Elisabeth H.M. Sterck (promotor). These supervisors are leading scholars with regard to animal cooperation and comparative cognition, primate communication, and primate sociality. The AB&C-group has connections with the Department of Veterinary Sciences, which include collaborations with regard to endocrinological analyses.

The Department of Biology consists of the Teaching Institute and 12 research groups with 290 employees. The research groups are organized in the Institute of Environmental Biology (IEB) and the Institute for Biodynamics and Biocomplexity (IBB). The Department of Biology is responsible for the Bachelor's programme Biology in which more than 300 students enroll annually. We are training more than 30% of all biology students in the Netherlands. Additionally, the Biology staff teaches in the Utrecht Biomedical Sciences Bachelor's and the Liberal Arts and Sciences Bachelor's of University College Utrecht. Moreover, Biology is a pillar discipline of the new international interdisciplinary Bachelor's programme Molecular and Biophysical Life Sciences that will start coming September. Next to Bachelor's education, our Biology staff educates students in several Master's programmes.

The Teaching Institute of Biology is responsible for the curriculum and staffing of the Bachelor's programme Biology and its operational management. Furthermore, the institute is active in researching and implementing teaching innovations and is in close contact with the staff of the research groups, responsible for the content of the courses of the Biology Bachelor's.

At the Faculty of Science, there are 6 departments to make a fundamental connection with: Biology, Chemistry, Information and Computing Sciences, Mathematics, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Physics. Each of these is made up of distinct institutes that work together to focus on answering some of humanity’s most pressing problems. More fundamental still are the individual research groups – the building blocks of our ambitious scientific projects.

Utrecht University is a friendly and ambitious university at the heart of an ancient city. We love to welcome new scientists to our city – a thriving cultural hub that is consistently rated as one of the world’s happiest cities. We are renowned for our innovative interdisciplinary research and our emphasis on inspirational research and excellent education. We are equally well-known for our familiar atmosphere and the can-do attitude of our people. This fundamental connection attracts Researchers, Professors and PhD candidates from all over the globe, making both the university and the Faculty of Science a vibrant international and wonderfully diverse community.