About the role
We are looking for a motivated post-doctoral researcher to assess potential zoonotic disease transmission pathways between bats humans. As part of an international consortium – OneBAT-funded by Horizon Europe you will collaborate with researchers across Europe.
Using a One Health approach, the OneBat consortium investigates the steps that could lead to viral transmission. The Sussex team is particularly interested in bat ecology, cat-bat-human interactions, and the epidemiology of viruses in bat populations and spill-overs into other hosts. You will need to have strong numeric skills for this post, with experience in techniques such as species distribution modelling and statistical analyses in R. In addition, you will need to conduct field research and conduct surveys involving members of the public and veterinarians.
One key objective of the research is to investigate potentially risky interactions between bats and cats or humans, using techniques including distribution overlap maps, questionnaire surveys of bat rehabilitation centres, and DNA-based assessment of cat-bat interactions. Another key objective is to use spatially-explicit modelling-based approaches, such as Circuitscape or Least Cost Pathways, to understand potential migration pathways of bats across Europe.
The researcher will support the consortium in establishing a MOTUS network of radiotracking receivers and analyse data on short- and long-distance movements of bats. In addition, they may be required to radiotag bats using BlueBat+ tags as a means of monitoring their movement across Europe.
About you
You will have a PhD or equivalent level experience in movement ecology and spatially-explicit modelling, and have a strong interest in statistical methods for analysing radiotracking data. You will need a high level of competency in using R, and ideally an ability to use alternative programming languages such as Python. You will also need to be familiar with curating large and complex datasets.
The job also requires skills in field ecology, and it essential that you have previous experience in handling bats under Natural England licence in order to ensure that radiotags can be fitted to bats within the project’s time-frame. The research will require significant amounts of interaction with members of the public, volunteer bat workers and professional ecologists, and so excellent inter-personal skills are essential.
About our School
In the School of Life Sciences we strive to understand the mechanisms that drive biological and chemical processes and to develop innovative and diverse approaches to enhance human health, technology and the environment. We undertake multidisciplinary research, teaching and engagement across a wide range of subjects, from Chemistry through Cellular and Molecular Biosciences to Conservation Biology.
The School comprises five Departments: Biochemistry & Biomedicine, Genome Damage and Stability Centre, Neuroscience, Ecology & Evolution and Chemistry. We also house the Sussex Drug Discovery Centre which works to deliver the bench-to-bedside translation of our discoveries. The breadth and depth of our cutting-edge research and innovative teaching practice is delivered by a diverse community who work across boundaries to deliver excellence, engage with real world problems and produce impact.
We pride ourselves on our world-leading research and have a strong research economy, with approximately 50% of our income stemming from research and an active grant portfolio of over £50 million. We host or form part of three University Centres of Excellence: the Genome Damage and Stability Centre, Sussex Neuroscience and Sussex Sustainability Research Programme. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework, 90.6 % of our Biological Sciences outputs and 84.8% of our Chemistry outputs were rated as world-leading or internationally excellent. We are proud that in both areas, 100% of our Impact cases were rated as world-leading or internationally excellent.
The School is committed to the University’s core values of kindness, integrity, inclusion, collaboration and courage. We believe that equality, diversity and inclusion is everyone’s responsibility and aim to provide a friendly and supportive environment for all who work, study and visit the School of Life Sciences.
The School of Life Sciences is proud to hold a Silver Athena Swann Award.
The School of Life Sciences is part of the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine.
Why work here
Our university is situated off the A27, next to the beautiful South Downs where you will enjoy everything that our 150-acre campus has to offer. We are accessible by public transport; Falmer train station is a five-minute walk to campus and several bus stops are located within campus. We also have dedicated cycling paths and encourage our staff to use these with our offering of a cycle to work scheme.
Sussex is a renowned, multi-accredited, research-led International University and this is only possible because of the people that work here. Whether you are a member of Faculty, part of a Professional Services team or a Student, it’s our people that make us great and we want you to be part of that.
Find out about our equality, diversity and inclusion.
Further Key Information
Please contact Pierre Nouvellet ([email protected]) or Fiona Mathews ([email protected]) for informal enquiries.
The University is committed to equality and valuing diversity, and applications are particularly welcomed from women and black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in Science, Technology, Engineering, Medicine and Mathematics (STEMM) at Sussex.
The University of Sussex values the diversity of its staff and students, and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds.
Eligibility
Visa Sponsorship Queries: This role has been assigned an eligible SOC code and meets the salary requirements for Skilled Worker Sponsorship if full time and appointed at Grade 7.4. Please consult our Skilled Worker Visa information page for further information about Visa Sponsorship.
Please note that this position may be subject to ATAS clearance if you require visa sponsorship (code: CAH03-01-03 - Ecology and Environmental Biology).
The University requires that work undertaken for the University is performed in the UK.
