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*Epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis in badgers, Biosciences, Statistics – MPhil/PhD (NERC iCASE Funded) Ref: 3179* Supervisors: Professor Dave Hodgson, University of Exeter Dr TJ McKinley, University of Exeter Professor Dez Delahay, Animal and Plant Health Agency The University of Exeter’s College of Life and Environmental Sciences is inviting applications for a NERC iCASE PhD studentship funded by NERC and the Animal and Plant Health Agency, to commence in September 2018 or as soon as possible thereafter. For eligible students the studentship will cover UK/EU tuition fees plus an annual tax-free stipend of at least £14,777 for 3 years full-time, or pro rata for part-time study. The student would be based in the Centre for Ecology and Conservation in the College of Life and Environmental Sciences at the Penryn Campus in Cornwall. This project will use a long-term study of badgers and bovine tuberculosis to understand the demography and epidemiology of the badger-bTB interaction using state-of-the-art statistical modelling. This project forms part of a major research programme, delivered by the University of Exeter in collaboration with the Animal and Plant Health Agency, to understand the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of wildlife disease, with a focus on bovine tuberculosis. We have developed integrated statistical models of disease progression and transmission (McDonald, J. L., Bailey, T. , Delahay, R. J., McDonald, R. A., Smith, G. C., Hodgson, D. J. (2016), Demographic buffering and compensatory recruitment promotes the persistence of disease in a wildlife population. Ecol Lett, 19: 443-449), and now wish to extend these models to include information on population genetics, social and spatial structure, ageing and inbreeding. The project will yield high impact understanding of this important wildlife disease system, and will yield high quality publications. The studentship will cover a stipend at the minimum Research Council rate, currently £14,777 per annum, research costs and tuition fees at the UK/EU rate for students who meet the residency requirements outlined by NERC. Students from EU countries who do not meet the residency requirements may still be eligible for a fees-only award but no stipend. Applicants who are classed as International for tuition fee purposes are not eligible for funding. For more details and a link to the application process, please see: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/studying/funding/award/?id=3179 The deadline for applications is 7th July 2018. For informal enquiries, please contact Professor Dave Hodgson: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> You may leave the list at any time by sending the command SIGNOFF allstat to [log in to unmask], leaving the subject line blank.