MASSEY UNIVERSITY, NEW ZEALAND

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP IN STATISTICAL MODELLING FOR 
VETERINARY EPIDEMIOLOGY

We seek to appoint a Massey University Postdoctoral Fellow to 
develop novel statistical methods for the analysis of spatially 
referenced data on the distribution and determinants of veterinary
diseases, and to apply these methods to veterinary surveillance 
system. This work will be conducted under the supervision of 
Professor Martin Hazelton (Chair in Statistics) and Professor 
Nigel French (Co-Director of the EpiCentre and Professor of Food 
Safety and Veterinary Public Health). The ideal applicant for this
position will have expertise in at least one of the following 
areas: nonparametric smoothing, semiparametric models and spatial 
statistics. S/he will also have experience in the application of 
statistical models in epidemiology or related fields. 

The Postdoctoral Fellow will split his/her time between the 
Institute of Information Sciences and Technology, and the 
EpiCentre in the Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical 
Sciences. The Institute of Information Sciences and Technology 
(http://www-ist.massey.ac.nz/) is a multi-disciplinary institute 
incorporating the fields of statistics, computer science and 
electronic and telecommunication engineering. The Statistics Group
comprises 12 permanent academic staff, with a wide variety of 
research interests. Particular strengths of the Group include 
nonparametric smoothing, biostatistics, statistical reliability 
and stochastic modelling in geophysics. A number of members of the
Statistics Group are actively involved in collaborative work with 
researchers in the EpiCentre.

The EpiCentre is one of the world's leading veterinary 
epidemiology groups (http://epicentre.massey.ac.nz), comprising 
eight permanent academic staff, 30 postgraduate students, and a 
number of postdoctoral researchers, consultants and support staff.
The group undertakes applied research and training in a wide range
of areas including exotic disease surveillance, spatial 
epidemiology, food safety risk analysis and the epidemiology and 
control of diseases transmissible between animals and man. The 
work encompasses both domestic and wild animal populations and is 
carried out in developing and developed countries throughout the 
world. 

The Postdoctoral Fellow will be based at the Massey University's 
Turitea Campus in Palmerston North, New Zealand. Massey Palmerston
North is New Zealand's premiere and largest institution for the 
life sciences, agricultural, horticultural and veterinary teaching
and research. The city of Palmerston North is the fourth largest 
on New Zealand's North Island. It has the wealth of facilities you
would expect to find in a major city, yet it is compact, friendly 
and accessible.

The appointment is for a fixed term of two years. The salary will 
be on the Lecturer scale, Step 1 in the first year and Step 2 in 
the second year (currently $53,037 and $54,870 respectively).

Informal enquiries about this position should be directed to 
Professor Martin Hazelton (email [log in to unmask]) or 
Professor Nigel French (email [log in to unmask]).

For information on the formal application process, please see 
http://jobs.massey.ac.nz/. The job reference code is A333-06L. 
The deadline for applications is 15 October 2006.