This project is one of a number that are in competition for funding from the NERC Great Western Four+ Doctoral Training Partnership (GW4+ DTP). The GW4+ DTP consists of the Great Western Four alliance of the University of Bath, University of Bristol, Cardiff University and the University of Exeter plus five Research Organisation partners: British Antarctic Survey, British Geological Survey, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, the Natural History Museum and Plymouth Marine Laboratory. The partnership aims to provide a broad training in earth and environmental sciences, designed to train tomorrow’s leaders in earth and environmental science. For further details about the programme please see http://nercgw4plus.ac.uk/
For eligible successful applicants, the studentships comprises:
- An stipend for 3.5 years (currently £15,609 p.a. for 2021/22) in line with UK Research and Innovation rates
- Payment of university tuition fees;
- A research budget of £11,000 for an international conference, lab, field and research expenses;
- A training budget of £3,250 for specialist training courses and expenses
Project Background
Male bowerbirds are famous for their complex courtship displays that incorporate a bower decorated with coloured objects, vocalisations, and vigorous display movements. Male great bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus nuchalis) also use their bowers to create visual tricks that affect the viewing female’s perception of the decorations that he presents during display. Despite the variety of signals that males produce when courting females, little is known about how the male constructs his bower, how his physical display movements interact with the bower display, and whether males adjust bower appearance or courtship displays in response to social and environmental changes. This project will quantify the female perspective of male displays to address novel questions about construction behaviour, multi-component courtship displays, perception, and female choice.
Project Aims and Methods
This project will increase our understanding of movement-based courtship displays and their interaction with an extended phenotype by addressing the following questions:
1. How do males build bowers? Males build a new bower every year, and bower size and composition appear to vary across individuals. By quantifying how males construct and decorate their bowers, we will investigate variation in building behaviour and explore parallels with nest building behaviour more broadly. We will also use data from bower measurements and male displays to determine whether there are trade-offs or positive associations in the quality of different display components.
2. Are courtship displays indicators of skill? When displaying to females, males pick up, shake and toss a variety of coloured objects, interspersed with presentations of their pink crest. By videoing the male’s display from the female’s point of view from within the bower and using markerless object tracking software, we will quantify how the motion of both the male and the objects he displays are perceived by the female, how males vary in their displays, and whether females prefer males that produce more skilful or vigorous displays.
3. Do males improve their displays over time? Immature males spend up to seven years learning how to build bowers, and changes in display quality over time are poorly understood in this species. By quantifying the changes in building behaviour and courtship displays of individually identifiable males over multiple years, we will gain insights into the development of courtship behaviour, and will quantify the effects that social and environmental factors have on display quality.
The questions addressed in this project can be adjusted where possible to take into account the successful candidate’s specific research interests.
Candidate requirements
This project would be ideal for a biologist with strong interests in sensory ecology, cognition and behaviour. The successful candidate should demonstrate a willingness to learn new computational methods, be able to work under challenging field conditions and be a proactive problem solver. Previous fieldwork experience and a bird ringing license would be useful.
Useful links
For information relating to the research project please contact the lead Supervisor via [Email Address Removed], more information about our bowerbird research here
Eligibility
NERC GW4+ DTP studentships are open to UK and Irish nationals who, if successful in their applications, will receive a full studentship including payment of university tuition fees at the home fees rate.
A limited number of full studentships are also available to international students which are defined as EU (excluding Irish nationals), EEA, Swiss and all other non-UK nationals. For further details please see the NERC GW4+ website.
Those not meeting the nationality and residency requirements to be treated as a ‘home’ student may apply for a limited number of full studentships for international students. Although international students are usually charged a higher tuition fee rate than ‘home’ students, those international students offered a NERC GW4+ Doctoral Training Partnership full studentship starting in 2022 will only be charged the ‘home’ tuition fee rate (which will be covered by the studentship).
International applicants need to be aware that you will have to cover the cost of your student visa, healthcare surcharge and other costs of moving to the UK to do a PhD. More information on this is available from the universities you are applying to (contact details are provided in the project description that you are interested in.
The conditions for eligibility of home fees status are complex and you will need to seek advice if you have moved to or from the UK (or Republic of Ireland) within the past 3 years or have applied for settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.
How to apply
In order to formally apply for the PhD Project you will need to go to the following web page.
https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/funding/award/?id=4235
The closing date for applications is 1600 hours GMT on Friday 10th January 2022.
Interviews will be held between 28th February and 4th March 2022.
If you have any general enquiries about the application process please email [Email Address Removed] or phone: 0300 555 60 60 (UK callers) or +44 (0) 1392 723044 (EU/International callers). Project-specific queries should be directed to the main supervisor
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