PhD position Behaviour, ecology and evolution of cichlid fish

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label Burse autorenew 2025-09-29, 17:01 history_edu Maria Dumitru
Research in the Behavioural Biology Group is aimed at understanding the mechanistic basis of animal behaviour in an ecological and evolutionary context, and integrates different levels of biological organisation: from genes and cells to whole organisms, populations and species.

Our work addresses fundamental questions in behaviour, neuroscience and evolution, but also considers practical implications for e.g. animal welfare and human health. Specific research interests include behavioural development, including the role of (maternal) hormones and lateralization and its links with personality (Groothuis), ecology and evolution of senescence (Verhulst), sex allocation (Dijkstra), neurobiology of social behaviour (Billeter) and the behavioural ecology of species divergence (Maan). We work on a diversity of model organisms, including birds, fish, rodents, insects and humans.

The Behavioural Biology Group offers a lively, international and ambitious research environment. Currently, we have three tenured scientific staff, two tenure track assistant professors, one postdoc and eight PhD students. We are supported by a team of laboratory technicians and animal caretakers. We recently moved to a new building with state-of-the-art facilities for keeping a diversity of animal species, including tropical fish.



The group is part of the Centre for Behaviour and Neurosciences (CBN). We also collaborate with members of the Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies (CEES). The University of Groningen enjoys an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative centre of higher education and belongs to the top 100 universities of the world.

The Behavioural Biology Group at the University of Groningen offers a PhD position for a project on speciation mechanisms in African cichlid fish.

Job description
Within the Behavioural Biology Group, the prospective PhD student will be part of the new research team of Dr Martine Maan. This team investigates how ecological selection and sexual selection interact during species divergence.