Effort allocation of mixed fisheries

(2a)

We are looking for
Applications are being invited for a PhD student to conduct research on strategies and tactics of fishers catching tuna’s on Fish Aggregating Device’s (FAD) as well as tuna’s use of space in a grid of FAD’s in areas with different productivity levels. You are expected to answer questions around fishermen’s decisions on allocating effort in relation to tuna aggregative behavior, local environmental factors and spatial distribution of FAD’s as well as their perceptions of stock status and markets. The research takes place under the BESTTuna program. You will be attached to the Aquaculture and Fisheries group (AFI) and the Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management group (AEW) of Wageningen University in partnership with the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV). The post will be based in Wageningen but you are expected to do extended field work in the Philippines based at the UPV.
 
BESTTuna is a major research programme funded by the Interdisciplinary Research and Education Fund (INREF) that supports cooperative research between research groups at Wageningen University (The Netherlands), Bogor University (Indonesia), the University of the Philippines, the University of the South Pacific (Fiji) and the WWF-Coral Triangle Initiative. The objective of BESTTuna is to study the design of effective and equitable state and market-based governance arrangements to achieve sustainable trans-boundary tuna management in the Coral Triangle and Western Pacific. As an interdisciplinary programme emphasis is given to social, political, economic and ecological dimensions.

We ask

• A Masters degree in fisheries biology, marine ecology or any related field in the ecological sciences
• Capacity to carry out independent fieldwork with a communicative attitude to practitioners in the fisheries sector
• Experience in quantitative, statistical, data analysis. Experience in mathematical modelling will be considered a major asset.
• A collaborative and team oriented attitude, with an open mind for other scientific approaches
• A strong ambition to upgrade your knowledge and academic skills
• Candidates with a scientific publication record are preferred.
• The position is open for citizens of Pacific nations only.

We require
Wageningen University has the following admission criteria for PhD students: English proficiency of 6.5 for IELTS, with a minimum of 6.0 for each academic module. You also need an acceptance of the candidate by the supervisors and the equivalent of a Dutch MSc degree. For further information on the specific application criteria see: Application PhD 
 
We offer
The 4-years PhD study will be developed according to a sandwich formula, with a maximum of 28 months of field work in the Philippines, and a minimum of 20 months data analysis, writing and training in Wageningen, the Netherlands.
The candidate will be employed by the University of the Philippines Visayas for the duration of the study. For a period of 24 months an allowance is available in accordance with the Dutch fellowship program to cover additional costs of living and accommodation in the Netherlands of €1190 per month. Furthermore the PhD candidate will receive a settling in allowance, a book allowance and a health- and third party insurance during the months spent in Wageningen and international travel costs and the costs for visa for the Netherlands will be paid for.

To apply
Send your application, a covering letter with your motivation and a CV, before the 31st of March 2012 (Extended deadline!) to Simon Bush by email (simon.bush@wur.nl). Please indicate the number of the BESTTuna PhD position you are applying for clearly in your cover letter.

Additional information
See www.besttuna.wur.nl or contact Paul van Zwieten (paul.vanzwieten@wur.nl), Wolf Mooij (wolf.mooij@wur.nl) or Ricardo Babaran (rpbabaran@yahoo.com; rpbabaran@up.edu.ph).