Subject: Postdoc: Economics and the evolution of mutualism
A 24-month post-doctoral position, potentially extendable to 36 months, is available starting in January, 2008. The position is a joint appointment between the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and the Department of Economics at Harvard University, and is funded by a National Science Foundation grant provided in partnership with the European Science Foundation EUROCORES program The Evolution of Cooperation and Trading (TECT, <http://www.esf.org/tect>www.esf.org/tect). Under TECT, eight PIs in six countries have organized a collaborative research project, called BIOCONTRACT, to develop and test theories regarding the evolution of mutualism. The aim of the postdoctoral position at Harvard is to adapt economic theory to the evolutionary theory of mutualism. In particular, we are interested in the branch of economics that models transactions in which participants have "private information," raising the possibility of cheating. Contract theory and other kinds of economic game theory have the potential to link biological market models with the body of mutualism theory that is largely concerned with the evolution of cheating. We have assembled a team of economists and biologists to adapt economic models to a variety of mutualisms for which we have extensive empirical data, including ants and plants, ants and lycaenid butterflies, figs and wasps, and plasmids and bacteria. Research topics that can be addressed include the evolution of interspecific signaling and deception, asymmetries between hosts and symbionts, adverse selection and market segmentation as applied to partner choice mechanisms, tailored models of specific mutualisms for which we have detailed behavioral data, and general models outlining the kinds of contracts that can exist between species, with the overall aim of understanding the factors promoting or deterring the evolution of mutualism. The post-doctoral researcher will work with Professor Naomi E. Pierce in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Professors Jerry Green and Drew Fudenberg in the Department of Economics. Regular meetings and opportunities for extended interactions with the other members of the BIOCONTRACT team and their research groups will be available: Prof. Ulf Dieckmann (IIASA, Austria), Dr. Francisco Dionisio (Univ. Lisbon, Portugal), Dr. Jérôme Orivel (CNRS Toulouse, France), Dr. István Scheuring (Eötvös Univ., Hungary), and Dr. Douglas Yu (Univ. East Anglia, UK). The applicant should have a PhD in Biology, Economics, Mathematics, or related area. Proficiency in mathematical modeling is required, and familiarity with biological models of cooperation, evolutionary game theory, or economic modeling is desirable. Salary is commensurate with experience. Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, statement of research interests and representative publications, and should arrange for three letters of reference to be sent to Naomi Pierce, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. Review of applications will begin December 15, 2007. The start date is flexible: the position could start as early as January 1, or as late as July 1, 2008. Further information about the Department is available at its website: <http://www.oeb.harvard.edu>. Harvard University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. For informal inquiries: Naomi Pierce (<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>) Jerry Green (<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>) Drew Fudenberg (<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>)
