Funding

Competition funded (UK/EU and international students)

Project code

PSH50080125

Department

School of Psychology, Sport and Health Sciences

Start dates

October 2025

Application deadline

17 January 2025

Applications are invited for a fully-funded three year PhD to commence in October 2025.

The PhD will be based in the Faculty of Science and Health within the School of Psychology, Sport and Health Sciences, and will be supervised by Dr Esther Herrmann, Dr Juliane Kaminski and Dr Rebecca Koomen. 

Candidates applying for this project may be eligible to compete for one of a small number of bursaries available. Successful applicants will receive a bursary to cover tuition fees at the UK/EU rate for three years and a stipend in line with the UKRI rate (£19,237 for 2025/26). Bursary recipients will also receive a contribution of £1,500 per year towards consumables, conference, project or training costs..

Costs for student visa and immigration health surcharge are not covered by this bursary. For further guidance and advice visit our international and EU students ‘Visa FAQs’ page.

The work on this project could involve:

 

  • Examining behavioural strategies of chimpanzees in a common pool-pool resource dilemma.
  • Designing new experimental paradigms to investigate whether chimpanzee groups can sustain a resource.
  • Research field trips to East African countries.

 

Competition over common-pool resources (CPR) is a ubiquitous challenge for social animals. Many species face similar dilemmas, yet our understanding of the evolutionary trajectory of CPR social strategies is very limited. This project will investigate the behavioural strategies of chimpanzees, one of our closest living relatives, in a series of CPR dilemmas. The research will investigate chimpanzee behaviour, not only in dyadic but also in group-wide interactions. It will further expand to cross-group comparisons, allowing for a more comprehensive analysis of how social dynamics and social climate structure behaviour in CPR dilemmas.

 

Entry requirements

You'll need a good first degree from an internationally recognised university (minimum upper second class or equivalent, depending on your chosen course) or a Master’s degree in an appropriate subject. In exceptional cases, we may consider equivalent professional experience and/or qualifications. English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.5 with no component score below 6.0.

Applicants should have experience in experimental research with primates.

You should have excellent writing skills, be competent in quantitative methods of data analysis and good interpersonal skills for engaging and communicating with non-academic partners in East Africa.

 

How to apply

If you have any project-specific questions please contact Dr Esther Herrmann (esther.herrmann@port.ac.uk), quoting the project code.

When you are ready to apply, please use the online application form of the respective project on our PhD scholarships page. Please note that email applications are not accepted.

 Make sure you submit a personal statement, proof of your degrees and grades, details of two referees, proof of your English language proficiency and an up-to-date CV.  Our ‘How to Apply’ page offers further guidance on the PhD application process.

If you want to be considered for this funded PhD opportunity you must quote project code PSH50080125 when applying.