Prospective Students
NOW AVAILABLE
Graduate Positions
MS/PhD Assistantship
Department of Entomology, Purdue University
The Urban Entomology Laboratory in the Department of Entomology at Purdue University is recruiting highly motivated and independent graduate students to work in the area of ant ecology. Funding is available to support a graduate research assistantship at either the MS or PhD level. Research projects are broadly structured to understand the behavior and ecology of ants, with emphasis on urban and invasive pest species. The research will focus on addressing “grand challenges” in entomology. These challenges include: invasive species, climate change, biodiversity loss, and urbanization. These goals will be accomplished utilizing ants as a model system and will involve a variety of behavioral, biochemical, experimental, and other tools depending on the interest of the applicant. Ideal students should be highly enthusiastic and interested in working at the interface of fundamental and applied entomology with a focus on urban ecology. The position will be available starting in August 2018, or until a qualified candidate has been identified. The position comes with a competitive stipend, full tuition waiver, and benefits package including health insurance. Interested individuals are encouraged to send questions and a preliminary application (CV, statement of research interests, GRE scores, contact information for 3 references) to Dr. Grzegorz Buczkowski (gbuczkow@purdue.edu).
Openings are periodically available for M.S. and Ph.D. graduate students. Students may create their own projects within the focus of the lab or join ongoing projects available under Research. Graduate training in my lab ranges from fundamental research on ant biology to applied projects on the development and application of Integrated Pest Management practices in the urban environment.
Basic projects: Behavioral, ecological, and genetic studies on ants, including nutritional ecology, colony and population genetic structure, the impact of invasive ants on native communities, nestmate recognition, and the evolution of polydomy.
Applied projects: Students can conduct research on novel pest management strategies, horizontal transfer of insecticides in insect colonies, IPM in the urban environment, baits and baiting strategies, and the impact of urbanization on native and invasive ant communities.
Undergraduate Positions
I regularly hire undergraduate students to work part-time in the lab assisting other researchers or working on independent projects, including Capstone Projects and Undergraduate Research Projects. Both types of projects offer undergraduates an excellent opportunity to immerse themselves in the research environment and learn essential research skills and produce publication quality work.
For more information on graduate studies in urban entomology contact:
Dr. Grzegorz Buczkowski
Department of Entomology
Purdue University
Smith Hall
901 W. State St.
West Lafayette, IN 47907
Phone: 765.494.6314
gbuczkow@purdue.edu
To request information on Graduate School applications:
Christian Krupke
Chair, Graduate Committee
Department of Entomology
Purdue University
Smith Hall
901 W. State St.
West Lafayette, IN 47907
Phone: 765.494.4912
ckrupke@purdue.edu
