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Parent-offspring interactions in paper wasps (Polistes) Parental care and eusociality are two of the best-studied forms of social behaviour. Interactions and conflict between immature offspring and adults have been well studied in birds (offspring begging, parental provisioning), but less so in social insects. Functional (adaptive) questions about sociality have also been well investigated, but less is known about underlying mechanisms. The studentship will focus on mechanisms underlying parentoffspring interactions in paper wasps (Polistes). Paper wasps are ideal for this purpose because of their small colony size, open nests and easily manipulated, extremely plastic social system. All adults and immature larvae are continuously visible on the naked nest ‘comb’, and behaviour is easily video-recorded. Group size is small enough that each adult can be given a unique identifying mark, and because each immature cannot leave its individual ‘cell’ in the comb, we can also keep track of it as it develops. The research will use spring co-foundress associations of the well-studied P. dominulus, where typically 3-5 adults tend a group of 20-30 immature offspring. The main focus will be on how adult wasps choose how much effort to put into provisioning the offspring. To what extent does an adult follow a fixed provisioning rule, or at the other extreme, modulate its behaviour according to the needs of the offspring and the provisioning behaviour of its partners? And how does an adult decide which offspring to feed? The research will involve both fieldwork in Spain and lab experiments in the UK, potentially including molecular genotyping. Our website (http://www.sussex.ac.uk/lifesci/fieldlab/) gives more details of our friendly research group. The School of Life Sciences provides excellent opportunities to interact with leading researchers. The student will particularly benefit from an exceptional (on a world scale) concentration of research expertise at Sussex that focusses on social evolution in insects. Jeremy Field, Francis Ratnieks, Bill Hughes, Dave Goulson (joining Sussex in April 2013), Tom Collett and Paul Graham all lead well-established research groups (see http://www.sussex.ac.uk/lifesci/ebe/research for details). Our seminar series have a correspondingly strong (though by no means exclusive) focus on social evolution, meaning that students are frequently exposed to leading researchers from other universities. The student will attend annual UK conferences (e.g. the annual 1-2 day UK meeting of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects) and at least one international conference. REQUIREMENTS: we seek a well-motivated student with an interest in behavioural/evolutionary ecology, who enjoys fieldwork. Applicants must have or expect to receive at least a 2:1 degree and be a UK citizen. If you are a citizen of another EU member state you will not generally be eligible, unless you have spent the previous three years in the UK undertaking education (undergraduate or masters) (see http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/available/postgrad/eligibility.asp for eligibility details). The successful applicant must be able to work in the field, and because the work involves recording colour marks on individual animals, it would not be suitable for someone who is colour-blind. Driving licence/ability to speak Spanish useful but not essential. Funding Notes (100 words) : The studentship is joint-funded by NERC and the School of Life Sciences at Sussex University, and will commence in either October 2013 or January 2014. Full funding is definitely available for 3.5 years, including research costs. In addition to research, the student will be expected to contribute up to 50 hours/academic year demonstrating/tutorial teaching without additional remuneration. 7. References (related to your research topic) (1) LEADBEATER, E., CARRUTHERS, J.M., GREEN, J.P., ROSSER, N.S. & FIELD, J. (2011) Nest inheritance is the missing source of direct fitness in a primitively eusocial insect. Science 333:874-876. [see also commentary on this paper in Science 333:833-4, 2011] (2) FIELD, J., CRONIN, A. & BRIDGE, C. (2006). Future fitness and helping in social queues. Nature 441: 214-217. [see also commentaries on this paper in Nature 444:42-3, and Current Biology 16: R599-R601] (3) CANT, M.A. & FIELD, J.P. (2005). Helping effort in a dominance hierarchy. Behavioral Ecology 16:708-715. (4) SHREEVES, G.E., CANT, M.A., BOLTON, A. & FIELD, J. (2003). Insurance-based advantages for subordinate co-foundresses in a temperate paper wasp Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 270:1617-1622. (5) CANT, M.A. & FIELD, J.P. (2001). Helping effort and future fitness in cooperative animal societies. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 268: 1959-1964. Application Enquiries (Deeptima to do) Please email a CV and covering letter, explaining your suitability for the post, to Jeremy Field ([email protected]). The CV should include: 1. Contact details (including e-mail addresses) for the applicant and 2-3 referees who would be available to provide references during Jan-Feb 2013. 2. The applicant's availability for interview at Sussex University during Feb 2013. 3. Statement of whether the applicant (a) has a driving licence; (b) speaks Spanish at any level. Informal enquiries: e-mail Jeremy Field