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Post-graduate research opportunities at the
West Coast Fossil Park
Applications are invited from suitably qualified students to do postgraduate (Honours, MSc and Post-doctoral) research projects focusing on the world-renowned vertebrate fossil occurrences at Langebaanweg, now the site of the West Coast Fossil Park. The studentships, which are supported by the African Origins Platform, are as follows;
MSc
Post Doctorate
R60 000 per annum for 2 years
R120 000 per annum for 2 years
Requirements:
For the Postdoctoral position, applicants are expected to hold a PhD in a relevant discipline, and to have preferably specialised in the Miocene/Pliocene of Africa.
At Honours or Masters level;
Earth Sciences graduates with an interest in the sedimentology, stratigraphy and geochemistry of the west coast coastal plain deposits.
- Sedimentology and palaeoenvironments of the Plio-Pleistocene Anyskop Member (Langebaan Fm) at Langebaanweg
- Palaeogeography of the Early Pliocene Varswater Formation in the vicinity of Langebaanweg interpreted from outcrops, borehole cores and bulk samples
- Mio-Pliocene phosphate rock occurrences on the Cape West Coast South Africa: geochemistry and depositional history of exposures in the West Coast Fossil Park, Langebaanweg
Life Sciences graduates who have an interest in one or more of the following fields; palaeoecology, African fossil mammalian communities, mammalian osteology and taxonomy, ancient diets, palynology.
- Analysis of the distribution of microfaunal remains in an Early Pliocene channel-hosted bonebed, Varswater Fm., Langebaanweg, South Africa.
- Reconstructing the palaeodiet of some Langebaanweg murid species using dental microwear
- Palaeopathology of the Langebaanweg carnivorans
- Taxonomy and systematics of the Langebaanweg small carnivorans
- Palaeoecology of the latest Miocene-earliest Pliocene carnivorans of Africa
Honours and Masters applicants must be South African citizens or permanent residents.
The post doctoral grant is open to all nationalities.
Please send a letter of motivation outlining your suitability for one of these bursaries, along with your CV to Dr Thalassa Matthews.
Email: tmatthews@iziko.org.za
Phone: 021 4813877
AOP/WCFP Research Index:
Background: AOP/WCFP initiative
Post-graduate research opportunities
Niche partitioning in late Miocene/Early Pliocene hyenas
Morphological and trophic distinction in the dentitions of two early alcelaphine bovids
Roger Smith (Head):
Email: rsmith@iziko.org.za
Phone: 021 481 3879
www.iziko.org.za/nh/research/
karoo_palaeo/index.html
Rebecca Ackermann
Email: becky.ackermann@uct.ac.za
Phone 021 650 2353
http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/
age/people/ackerm.htm
John Compton:
Email: john.compton@uct.ac.za
Phone: 021 650 2931
http://web.uct.ac.za/depts
/geolsci/
Pippa Haarhoff:
Email:pjh@fossilpark.org.za
Phone: 022 766 1606
Thalassa Matthews:
Email: tmatthews@iziko.org.za
Phone: 021 481 3877
Dave Roberts:
Email: droberts@geoscience.org.za
Phone: 021 948 4754
www.geoscience.org.za
Hamish Robertson:
Email: hrobertson@iziko.org.za
Phone: 021 481 3849
http://www.iziko.org.za/nh/
Deano Stynder:
Email: dstynder@iziko.org.za
Phone: 021 481 3984