The Community Ecology Group at the University of Bern (led by Prof. Dr. Eric Allan) works on two interlinked questions: what maintains diversity within plant communities? And what effects do changes in community diversity have on the functioning of ecosystems and the services they provide? We try to understand the biodiversity of plant communities from several different angles, and we do experiments in the field and greenhouse and use statistical modelling to test these questions in large datasets. On our website you can find more information on the major projects we are involved in, together with updates on our activities and interests (https://allanecology.com/).
We would like to host one full PhD student, to join the group with support from the China Scholarship Council (CSC)in 2026. We welcome applications from Chinese Master’s students who have a background in ecology and who wish to pursue a full 48-month PhD program under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Eric Allan.
Interested candidates should prepare a short document including:
- A CV (1 page) and
- A brief description of the research topics you would like to pursue during your PhD, e.g. topics related to the PaNDiv https://allanecology.com/projects/pandiv/ or BugNet experiments https://www.bug-net.org/experimental-study/. Please also formulate one or two research questions you would like to address (1 page).
Please submit your application no later than January 8, 2026 to (xiangyu.liu@unibe.ch). Shortlisted candidates will be invited to Zoom interviews in mid-January 2026 to discuss and develop potential PhD proposals for a CSC application in 2026.
Allan Ecology Lab 