Workplace: Vertebrate Research Group, Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic

Thesis Topic: Landscape permeability for flying vertebrates

Supervisor: Ass.Prof. Tomas Bartonicka, Ph.D.

Type of Cooperation: PhD fellowship (more information on PhD study programmes at the Faculty of Science here)

Expected Start Date: 1/7/2024

Application Deadline:  25/6/2024

About the Workplace

We are looking for highly motivated graduates to join the Vertebrate Research group/ Department of Botany and Zoology. Our multidisciplinary research is based on interconnection of classical ecological (composition and diversity of mammalian assemblages), genetic (phylogenetics and phylogeography) and behavioural approaches. Some topics then link basic research to applied outputs in conservation or technical applications. Two dozen PhD students are involved in the research, many of them from abroad. 

Masaryk University is modern, dynamic and the most attractive university in the Czech Republic with ten faculties, more than 6500 staff and 33 000 students, a wide range of research areas and a strong international position. We are the largest academic employer in the South Moravian Region.

Faculty of Science MU, a holder of the HR Excellence in Research Award by the European Commission, is a research-oriented faculty, offering university education (Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degree programs) closely linked to both primary and applied research and high school teaching of the following sciences: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Earth sciences. We are the most productive scientific unit of the Masaryk University generating around 40 % of MU research results.

Description

Selected student(s) will have an opportunity to:

• participate in the development of a model capable of predicting sections with increased mortality of flying vertebrates
• select sites at risk by testing the functionality of protective wall types and evaluating their effectiveness in reducing bird and bat mortality
• monitor mortality and behavioural changes using thermal, lidar, acoustic and visual tools at sites where different types of protective walls have been installed
• since it is not possible to modify the protective walls near roads, the student will carry out research on experimental protective walls outside the roads at suitable locations
• help define a new type of protective wall with optimised costs and higher efficiency