PhD Scholarship: In Early Vertebrate Evolution, Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Grant

We are inviting applications for a fully funded PhD scholarship based at Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. The successful candidate will be supervised by Dr Alice Clement and Prof John Long working on the ARC-funded project “The Devonian Gogo Fauna: Diversity, Palaeoecology and Global Significance.”

This project will identify the total Gogo biota diversity using new and undescribed material in order to reconstruct the ancient reef ecosystem, determine its trophic hierarchies using direct evidence from stomach contents, and test resilience of the reef ecosystem to change, based on comparisons to other fossil and modern reef faunas in Australia and elsewhere. This is a unique project uniting vertebrate and invertebrate palaeontology specialists to tackle the problem holistically using the entire fauna. The student will have the opportunity to travel to visit museum collections in Perth and Melbourne to view additional Gogo material, as well as conduct fieldwork, and share results of their research via national and international conferences.

The scholarship includes:

• a stipend valued at $33,000 per annum (2023 rate) tax free
• The scholarship will be awarded for 3 years

To be eligible for the award of this scholarship a student must:

• Be an Australian citizen; or New Zealand citizen; or have been granted permanent resident status or are International citizens; and 
• meet PhD admission requirements including having an Australian Honours degree Class 1 or 2A or equivalent qualification (at least AQF Level 8), including a research component of at least 6 months’ full-time study achieving Distinction (75%) OR including evidence of equivalent research experience, such as a substantial first-author refereed publication or track record as an investigator on a competitive grant; and
• be available to commence as a full-time PhD student at Flinders University in Semester 1, 2024. 

Desirable knowledge and experience includes:

• Knowledge of vertebrate anatomy, evolution, biomechanics, and taxonomy, particularly early vertebrates
• Experience of handling and managing 3D and large data
• Prior publication of a peer-reviewed article in an academic journal