Post-doctoral research associate – human skeletal variation

A full time Postdoctoral Research Associates Fellowship is sought to work on a European Research Council funded project entitled:

Adaptation, Dispersals and Phenotype: understanding the roles of climate, natural selection and energetics in shaping global hunter-gatherer adaptability (ADaPt)

ADaPt is a five year research project (www.adaptproject.eu) led by Dr. Jay Stock (Cambridge) that aims to improve our understanding of the origins of human skeletal variation. The research combines detailed study of the global pattern of hunter-gatherer skeletal variation in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene with experimental research which tests the relationship between energetic stress, muscle function, and skeletal variation among living humans. The research is organised into two streams. The first tests the correspondence between skeletal variation and both genetic and climatic history, to infer mechanisms driving variation. The second component integrates this skeletal variation with experimental studies of living humans to test adaptive implications of skeletal variation observed in the past. The ADaPt project is designed to provide links between prehistoric hunter-gatherer variation and the evolutionary parameters of life history and energetics that may have shaped our success as a species.

The advertised post will work on the project strand entitled: Understanding human diversity through phylogenetically, climatically and spatially controlled analyses of skeletal morphology.

The Research Associate will be expected to contribute to ongoing research on post-cranial skeletal variation among Late Pleistocene and Holocene foragers. Research experience in human osteology, osteometric variation of the human skeleton and skeletal biomechanics are required.

To apply online for this vacancy, please click on the ‘Apply’ button below. This will route you to the University’s Web Recruitment System, where you will need to register an account (if you have not already) and log in before completing the online application form.

Applicants should have, or must be expecting to complete, a Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology or a related field before they take up this position. They will be expected to take up the position on 1 October 2015 or as soon as possible thereafter, for a fixed term appointment of 24 months.

Further particulars can be downloaded from the link below. Informal inquiries may be addressed to Dr. Jay Stock at jts34@cam.ac.uk or Ms. Alexandra Murphy at am2361@cam.ac.uk