PhD Student (m/f/d) in Community Ecology, Stone Tool Use and Social Behavior in Gracile Capuchin Monkeys Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany

The Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz and Radolfzell, Germany, is offering a fully funded PhD position on community ecology, stone tool use and social behavior in gracile capuchin monkeys. The position is part of the Ecology of Animal Societies and the Inheritance and Social Learning across Scales (ISLaS) group led by Dr. Brendan Barrett.

The project sits at the intersection of animal behavior, ecology, cultural evolution, spatial ecology, and quantitative biology. The group studies how extragenetic inheritance — especially social learning and ecological inheritance — shapes social behavior, ecology, and genetic evolution. Students in the lab work with reproducible Bayesian statistical modeling, theory-driven research, and field-based ecological data, with collaborations extending to Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia, Mozambique, California, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

The successful candidate will join the International Max Planck Research School for Quantitative Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution from lab to field (IMPRS-QBEE), a cooperative doctoral program between the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and the University of Konstanz. The position is based in Konstanz, Germany, with a flexible start date in summer/autumn 2027 and funding for 4 years at TVöD E-13, 65%.

Two research directions are available. Project A focuses on the community ecology of stone tool use in white-faced capuchin monkeys in Coiba National Park, Panama, combining field experimentation, data collection, existing datasets, and analytical or agent-based modeling. Camera trapping is central, and fieldwork may involve short visits or longer stays in Panama. Project B focuses on multi-site comparisons of the social behavior, ecology, movement, and population demography of gracile capuchins across study systems, potentially using indirect approaches such as camera trapping, remote sensing, and biological samples.

Applicants must hold a Master's degree in a scientific field such as biology, ecology, anthropology, archaeology, or the quantitative sciences, and should have previous field research experience. The ideal candidate will be comfortable integrating observational or experimental field data with Bayesian data analysis, causal inference, or theoretical modeling, and should be highly independent. Experience in remote field environments, interest in the tropical Americas, cross-cultural communication, and programming skills in R, Python, Julia, Mathematica, NetLogo, or similar are strongly valued. English is the working language; Spanish is desirable and German is not required.

Applications are due by 1 December 2026 via the IMPRS online portal. Required materials include a CV, two references, a letter of motivation, a research statement, a short research proposal based on one of the two project directions, a code example if possible, an AI declaration, and BSc/MSc transcripts.