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Opportunities to become involved in the White Rose Palaeobiology Group

Funded research positions and postgraduate studentships in our group are advertised at www.jobs.ac.uk and www.findaphd.com respectively. Check these sites for details of current opportunities.

We welcome speculative enquiries from prospective graduate students and post-docs, and would also encourage you to contact us with ideas for research initiatives. We are happy to help develop projects and to help you seek funding. If you are interested in our work, then drop us a line!

David Beerling, University of Sheffield - palaeoclimate, plant evolution, and the fundamental nature of ancient biosphere-atmosphere-climate feedbacks (click here for more information).

Jane Francis, University of Leeds - palaeobotany and palaeoclimate, particularly in the polar regions (click here for more info)

Colin Osborne, University of Sheffield - evolution of plant-atmosphere interactions, especially in C₄ grasses (click here for more info)

Charles Wellman, University of Sheffield - the origin and early evolution of land plants (click here for more info)

Paul Wignall, University of Leeds - mass extinctions, black shales, and Carboniferous basin history (click here for more info).

Numerous funding opportunities for overseas graduate students and post-docs are available, and some of these are listed below.

POST DOCS

Independent research fellowships
(The Royal Society, NERC, Research Councils UK)
The Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at Sheffield now hosts more than 10 independent research fellows funded by The Royal Society, NERC, and Research Councils UK. We recently initiated an Independent Fellows Programme that aims to recruit the strongest research fellows, and to integrate them into the department over the course of the fellowship. The scheme provides assistance at the application stage, offers generous access to lab and office space and provides a fully funded PhD studentship. Mentoring and career development planning is offered by senior academics, and opportunities for integration onto the permanent staff are available. For further details contact Colin Osborne.

EU postdoctoral fellowships
The Marie Curie fellowship scheme funds UK placements for European and non-European postdocs for up to 24 months. We have successfully hosted several such fellows in the past, and welcome enquiries. For the latest information on these schemes, go to:

• Europeans
• Non-Europeans

Other international postdoctoral fellowships to the UK
The Royal Society's Incoming Fellowships Programme aims to foster science and technology links between the UK and various countries throughout the world, enabling outstanding postdoctoral scientists to conduct cutting-edge research with their UK counterparts. More details of the scheme and current calls for applications can be found at http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/funding.asp?id=1120&require_funding=-1

POSTGRADS

International postgraduate students
Numerous schemes fund postgraduate studies in the UK by international students. A good place to start looking is the findaphd site, which gives pointers of how gain funding, general opportunities for all international students, and specific opportunities for students from Australia, the British Commonwealth countries, the European Union, Pakistan, South Africa, and the USA. See http://www.findaphd.com/students/funding.asp for details.

Postgraduate Students from Mexico
The University of Sheffield has an arrangement with CONACyT to offset some of the costs of study in the UK.
http://www.conacyt.mx/

Postgraduate Students from Malaysia
The University of Putra Malaysia has a young lecturers' scheme to fund PhD studies in the UK - we currently host three such students in the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences.