This project is part of the DPhil in Biology at the University of Oxford
The ability to navigate is essential to an animal’s survival and success, allowing it to find mates, forage effectively, and find its way home. A strategy for efficient orientation is to learn and remember information from the surroundings and to form an internal representation of space – a spatial map. Although we understand many of the navigational mechanisms used by animals that travel over surfaces (indeed, the 2014 Nobel Prize was won for the discovery of place cells in mammals), the vertical component of the spatial map has been largely ignored. Research has focussed on how animals navigate horizontally, although the real world is, of course, three-dimensional. The properties of 3D space are quantitatively and qualitatively different to 2D, which means that spatial information is also likely to be learned and remembered differently. However, we know very little about how animals might cope with this problem. As fish move freely through volumes, they are excellent model species to use in the study of 3D spatial cognition.
During this DPhil project, the student will investigate what types of information are stored in a fish’s 3D map of space, and how these are used to navigate from place to place. The project will be based upon behavioural experiments, developed from current work that is being undertaken in our laboratory. The student will learn state-of-the art tracking techniques, together with photogrammetry and modelling, and will gain a thorough understanding of behavioural paradigms. The research will allow us to tackle important questions on how animals solve the problem of orienting through complex 3D environments, and has potential applications to welfare, conservation, neurobiology and engineering. This fundamentally different approach to studying navigation will shed light on the entire field of spatial cognition and, ultimately, on behaviour itself.
This project is part of the Behaviour & Biomechanics theme in the Department of Biology.
Funding
This project is part of the DPhil in Biology programme, and is not a funded course at the University of Oxford, as such, students are expected to explore options for funding. However, we anticipate being able to offer around 6 full graduate scholarships to incoming DPhil Students in 2023-24
You will be automatically considered for the majority of Oxford scholarships, if you fulfil the eligibility criteria and submit your graduate application by 20 January 2023. Scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic achievement and potential to excel as a DPhil student.
For further details about searching for funding as a graduate student visit the University’s dedicated Funding pages.
Eligibility
For full entry requirements and eligibility information, please see the main admissions page.
How to apply
The deadline for applications for 2023-2024 entry is midday 20 January 2023. We will continue to accept applications submitted after 20 January 2023, but these late applications will not be considered for scholarship funding.
You can find the admissions portal and further information about eligibility and the DPhil in Biology Programme at the University's graduate admissions page.
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