YCEDE Research Assistant: Department of Biology & Leverhulme Centre, University of York

Hours: A maximum total of 120 hours; this will either be for up to 30 hours per week for 4 weeks for a UG student, or for a maximum of 20 hours per week for a maximum of 6 weeks for a PGT student. Please note the options for working hours and duration depending on whether you recruit a UG or PGT student. Once you have recruited your intern please agree the hours/duration with them directly and inform the York Internships team of the arrangements.) 

We encourage applicants from all areas of the UK. If you are an applicant from outside of York, please get in touch with us separately to inform us of this as there will be an additional step that needs to be completed. Please send the email to both info@ycede.ac.uk and careers-placements@york.ac.uk

Accommodation support

Should you need support with accommodation costs and support to be able to complete the placement, we may be able to help. Please reach out to us at info@ycede.ac.uk. 

Duration (weeks): Between 4 and 11 weeks depending on student year of study (UG or PGT)

Student hourly rate: £12.60

Oncost hourly rate: £3.52

Background 

The internship would be based in the Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity and Department of Biology. The Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity is an interdisciplinary centre researching the complexities of biodiversity change. The centre hosts a number of post-doctoral researchers and doctoral students from a range of departments in a large open workspace facilitating interaction and discussion. We also hold a number of regularly recurring events, e.g., presentation of ongoing work, skills training sessions and themed discussions. 

The work will apply a methodology and pipeline already developed with project students and interns, to a new group of species, providing part of a larger project being prepared for publication by the supervisors. This work will contribute to the Extinction and de-extinction research theme in the Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity.

Project details: 

The research project is titled The Cretaceous radiation of birds: Diversifying form and function. Today, birds represent the most successful terrestrial vertebrates on the planet with ~11,000 extant species, yet relatively little is known about their early evolution and diversity. Originating in the Jurassic, around 150 million years ago, ancient birds achieved a surprising level of diversity prior to the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction, in which an asteroid struck Earth, resulting in the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs along with many other iconic Mesozoic groups, such as pterosaurs and ichthyosaurs. Prior to this cataclysmic event, five lineages of birds co-existed, of which only one survived, going on to radiate into the diverse group we know today.

However, it is not known when these ancient lineages of birds reached their peak ecological diversity and whether or not they were already in decline prior to the K-Pg mass extinction. Likewise, was the group that led to modern birds already beginning to ecologically replace ancient birds before the asteroid struck? The answer to this has implications for our understanding of how and why ancient birds were replaced by modern birds at the K-Pg and further reaching implications for our understanding of biodiversity change in times of ecological crisis. This research therefore provides an opportunity to help answer one of the big questions in palaeobiology - why some lineages survive mass extinctions while others are doomed to extinction - a question that is of increasing importance as we head towards what is likely to become the sixth mass extinction.

The aim of this project is to investigate avian diversity throughout the Mesozoic, considering species as well as phylogenetic and functional aspects to enable an exploration of how avian diversity was shaped throughout this period of time and to unpick which groups of birds contributed most to Mesozoic ecosystems. The student will use a published dated phylogenetic tree and collect ecological data (e.g., diet, mass) for birds, which they will then analyse using our trialled analysis pipeline in the R programming language. This internship opportunity would suit a student with a background and/or interest in any of the following: palaeobiology, ecology, evolution. Some experience of R coding will be required but all specialist software training will be provided. This project will combine both palaeobiology and ecological data to contribute towards answering a big problem in modern biodiversity science and the supervisors will offer full support in both computational palaeobiology (Davis) and quantitative ecology (Hatfield) approaches.
 

The planned outputs of the project will be:

● An overall assessment of changes in functional trait and phylogenetic diversity for

Mesozoic birds.

● Data on the timing of decline of ancient birds and subsequent ecological replacement by

modern birds.

● Contribution towards a larger research project and scientific paper.

We are looking for someone with: 

● Interest in ecology and paleobiology

● Ability to work both independently with guidance and support and as part of a team

● Enthusiasm for learning new skills

● Experience of data handling

● Experience in or willingness to learn coding in the programme R

● Experience of navigating scientific literature

What the intern can gain from this internship:

• Gain experience of working in a research environment and interacting with researchers across a variety of career stages (including current doctoral students), providing further insight into the sector
• Experience conducting independent research first hand and gain an understanding of the day-to-day requirements and challenges
• First-hand experience of research at the level conducted by doctoral students and they will gain insights into the publication process of a scientific paper

Improve their data handling and coding skills as well as their knowledge of ecology and paleobiology, thus providing valuable experience for a potential research career as well as transferable skills

Application details

This post is brought to you by York Internships and is offered as a hybrid internship, with work to be completed with the department on campus, and with the opportunity for some remote working. The project will be a total of 4 weeks in duration if full-time or 6 weeks part-time. Employers and academic departments choose to advertise their roles via York Internships, therefore we ask that you do not contact employers directly with your application. If you have any questions about your application, please email careers-placements@york.ac.uk 
 

How to apply:

To apply, please click the red ‘apply’ link.

• Please download the York Internships application form. You can find this on the York Internships company profile as an attachment. Alternatively, the application form is attached to the internship vacancy. Once you have completed this, please re-upload along with your CV.
• Please note that if you do not receive a confirmation email following your application, we have not received it. Therefore please be sure to save a copy of your application in case you need to reapply, and email careers-placements@york.ac.uk if you wish to check your application status.
• Please note that details of this project will not be accessible through Handshake following the closing date; please save a copy of this opportunity for your reference. 
• If you have not heard from York Internships within two weeks of the application deadline, please assume that on this occasion your application has been unsuccessful. 
• You are encouraged to seek support when putting together your application. You can access CV and interview advice at york.ac.uk/careers/applications

INTERNSHIP ELIGIBILITY AND CONDITIONS: YOU MUST READ THIS INFORMATION BEFORE APPLYING. If you have any questions at all about your eligibility, please contact careers-placements@york.ac.uk at the earliest opportunity - do not wait for the application closing date to contact the team.  

Funding for this internship has been provided by the Yorkshire Consortium for Equity in Doctoral Education. YCEDE funded projects are designed to enable undergraduate (UG) or postgraduate taught (PGT) students from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds in the UK to gain postgraduate research (PGR) level research experience, as part of a wider initiative to remove barriers to doctoral study. By applying for this internship, you confirm that you are a UK National and identify as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic.

As part of the wider evaluation of the YCEDE initiative, all applications for this internship may be reviewed and used to research the effectiveness of YCEDE.  This evaluation may be carried out by staff from any of the HE institutions involved in the YCEDE initiative. This includes: the University of Bradford, the University of Leeds, the University of Sheffield, and Sheffield Hallam University.  By applying for this internship you are also consenting to the information in your application being reviewed as part of this evaluation.  

Please note that if you are offered a YCEDE internship through York Internships it is a condition of the agreement that you participate fully in the training elements of your project, which includes maintenance of a learning journal and completion of a short project report or video about your experience. The journal and report will be viewed by the YCEDE and York Internships teams, who may ask for your permission to use some of the journal or report content for marketing purposes. At the start of the internship you will also receive a welcome email from the YCEDE team, asking you to complete a short profile also for marketing and monitoring purposes.   

This position is offered on a full-time basis (max 30 hours per week) for UG students, and on a part-time basis (max 20 hours per week) for PGT students. 

The hourly rate for this position is subject to tax, National Insurance and people’s pension. The intern will be paid monthly in line with the casual payroll process based on the submission of timesheets via Dashboard.

For postgraduate students, we consider semester to include the summer vacation.  Please note that students studying on a student visa may not exceed 20 hours of paid work (including voluntary work) per week during semester.

Right to work documentation: Any applicant who is offered this internship will be asked to provide evidence of their right to work in the UK before beginning the internship. This will involve providing a copy of your passport to the University’s HR Team. If you are a non-EU national your passport should contain details of your student visa confirming that you have obtained permission to work. You will be contacted with further instructions on how to complete a Right to Work check if you are offered the role.

You must be eligible to work in the UK and have a valid National Insurance (NI) number to complete this internship.  If you are in the application process for an NI number at the time your internship is due to start, you can start work, however please note the University of York Casual Worker Team will require you to provide your NI number as soon as possible. Further information on NI numbers can be found on the UK Government website.