Research Associate in Evolutionary Ecology

Newcastle University

Location:	Newcastle upon Tyne
Salary:	£36,636 to £46,049 per annum.
Hours:	Full Time
Contract Type:	Fixed-Term/Contract

Placed On: 7th April 2026
Closes: 5th May 2026
Job Ref: 29247

We are a world class research-intensive university. We deliver teaching and learning of the highest quality. We play a leading role in economic, social and cultural development of the North East of England. Attracting and retaining high-calibre people is fundamental to our continued success.

The Role

Do you have a passion for evolutionary theory and experience in modelling?

We are a dynamic research team with national and international collaborators, driving innovations in coral reef ecology and evolution. We are committed to the professional development of our team members, fostering collaboration and facilitating experience in new fields and acquiring new skills.

The role is part of Leverhulme funded project "The role of mutualisms in social evolution and behaviour", which combines empirical work using anemones and anemonefishes as model organisms, and theoretical work to generalise the results. The Research Associate will lead the theoretical part of the project and contribute to the empirical work where appropriate.

You will combine elements of classic game theoretical models of cooperation and reproductive skew to include mutualistic interaction and thereby create a general framework for social evolution. The empirical findings from experiments done with anemones and anemonefish in Papua New Guinea will be used to inform model development, test theoretical predictions, and explore model variants, completing a circle between theory and data. The project will be supervised by Dr Theresa Rueger at Newcastle University, in collaboration with Prof Michael Cant at the University of Exeter and Prof Peter Buston at Boston University.

This is full-time, fixed-term post for 20-months.

Please provide evidence of how you meet the essential criteria required for the role outlined in ‘The Person' by uploading a letter of application along with your Curriculum Vitae (CV).

For any questions contact Dr Theresa Rueger, theresa.rueger@newcastle.ac.uk.

Key Accountabilities

• To develop and test a new theoretical framework to study the role of mutualism in the evolution of animal societies.
• To liaise with the principal investigator and collaborators to plan, organise and carry out the work programme.
• To disseminate research results through appropriate media. This will include authoring or co-authoring papers for publication in high-quality academic journals.
• To contribute to existing and new interdisciplinary collaborations
• To train and assist undergraduate and postgraduate students in theoretical techniques and computational methods.
• Represent the research group and disseminate information about its work at national and international events.
• Contribute to learning and development through the provision of documentation, training and advice.
• Undertake relevant training and development activities in order to develop an awareness of own professional development needs.
• Any other duties within the scope and general nature of the grade which may be required.