Doctoral Position in Biological Science

Doctoral Position in Biological Science (part-time 75 %, E 13 TV-L) Reference No.: 2025/079. The start date is July 31, 2025 or by agreement. The position is available initially for two years with the possibility of an extension. The University of Konstanz is one of eleven Universities of Excellence in Germany. Since 2007 it has been successful in the German Excellence Initiative and its follow-up programme, the Excellence Strategy. How do active-sensing agents like echolocating bats make sense of the extremely dense sensory inputs they receive in groups? Each bat in the group emits extremely loud calls, while trying to listen for its own faint echoes. However, effectively each bat mainly ends up hearing the loud calls and non-self echoes from its neighbours. What cues are individuals using in these surroundings that are simultaneously filled with too much and too little relevant information? This position investigates and characterizes how individuals in groups of echolocating bats manage to fly while echolocating in groups despite the challenging sensorimotor scenario it presents. Potential work on other echolocating animal groups (edible nest swiftlets & oilbirds) also a possibility once a working system is in place. The candidate will assemble a multi-sensor rig to quantify echolocating groups in the field engaged in various collective behaviours. Data from multi-sensor rig will also be used to reconstruct individual sensory inputs and rationalise the echolocating and flight strategies agents use in groups. Your project will be the ‘biology’ project parallel to the ongoing swarm robotics project studying how groups of active-sensing agents as a whole can move together. More on . We are the , an interdisciplinary working group at the interface of sensory biology, swarm robotics and collective behaviour. The working language of the group and project is English. As a doctoral candidate you will be based in the IMPRS QBEE in a wider community of biology grad students. The Active Sensing Collectives is based at the Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, an interdisciplinary Cluster of Excellence with a wide-ranging community of researchers. Your Responsibilities - Development of a field-deployable multi-sensor rig - Conducting field work to characterise echolocating bat groups in their natural surroundings - Analysis of multi-sensor rig data to rationalise individual echolocator decisions Your Competencies - Masters degree in Biology, Physics, Comp. Sci., Engineering or relevant fields - Interpersonal and team-working mindset - Ideally previous experience with two of the three - Sensory biology/animal behaviour - Acoustics/physics/engineering - Computational work/programming - Fieldwork and an EU-compatible driving license are helpful but not a must We Offer - Good development opportunities, extensive training - An exciting in-house interdisciplinary community comprising of biologists, roboticists and computer scientists Questions can be directed to Dr. Thejasvi Beleyur via e-mail: apply.job.26441958@hokifyjob.comapply.job.26441958@hokifyjob.com We look forward to receiving your application with the usual documents until May 25, 2025 via our [Online Application Portal.](https://stellen.uni-konstanz.de/en/jobposting/b553cd9fbeec7695f3561e58c0cafbb64e58dc870/apply) The University of Konstanz is committed to ensuring an environment that provides equal opportunities and promotes diversity, as well as a good balance between university and family life. As an equal opportunity employer, we strive to increase the number of women working in research and teaching. We also support working couples through our [dual career programme](https://www.uni-konstanz.de/en/equalopportunities/family/dual-career/). Persons with disabilities are explicitly encouraged to apply. They will be given preference if appropriately qualified (contact apply.job.26441958@hokifyjob.comapply.job.26441958@hokifyjob.com + 49 7531 88-4016).