School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences | Faculty of Science PhD candidate for the Effectively Rearing Replacement Dairy Goats Program

We are currently seeking an enthusiastic and motivated PhD candidate to join the Effectively Rearing Replacement Dairy Goats Program. We invite applications from ambitious candidates with relevant research experience and passion to conduct research and innovation activities on the project “Early Life Nutrition to Improve Feed Efficiency & Reduce Waste in Commercial Dairy Goats”. This three-year project aims to explore early-life nutritional interventions to improve the efficiency of growth, production, and economics in producing male goat kids for meat, as well as improving future production in lactating dairy goats. In collaboration with Meredith Dairy (https://meredithdairy.com/), the largest goat dairy production system in Australia, this PhD project is highly embedded in the industry and will contribute key information on early life nutrition that can help improve the productivity of the industry.

Supervisor/s:
Dr Kristy DiGiacomo | https://orcid.org/0000-0002-65...
Dr Fernanda Zamuner | https://orcid.org/0000-0002-94...

Location: The University of Melbourne (Parkville Campus)

Terms of appointment: Full-time graduate student position (37.5 h/week) for up to 3.5 years, commencing after Oct 2023

Financial Support: Domestic students and/or international students who are successful in obtaining a course offer will be provided with a fortnightly tax-free living allowance of $35.000 per year pro rata (2023 full-time study rate) for up to 3.5 years. Please note that the PhD program does not cover visa or relocation expenses for international students.

Tasks and Responsibilities:
▪ Taking an active part in the planning and execution of large-scale field experiments
▪ Animal data collection, compilation, and analysis
▪ Participate in dissemination and outreach activities (e.g., attending/presenting at scientific events, such seminars, workshops, congresses, and conferences)
▪ Manuscript writing

Required Qualifications: The ideal candidate will have a background in production animal studies (undergraduate (honours) and/or masters degree in an appropriate field). Applicants must be able to access a doctoral programme according to the School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences requirements.
https://study.unimelb.edu.au/f...

Desirable Requirements: We seek proactive students who are comfortable and confident in working both independently and in a multidisciplinary team. Demonstrated research skills (i.e., experimental design and implementation, laboratory work, data analysis, scientific writing, presentation/communication skills) will be highly valued, but not essential. Students will be expected to spend periods of time at the commercial farm, which may involve staying onsite or nearby as required.
Additionally, this project will require constant travel between sites (Melbourne's Parkville campus and the commercial research farm). Thus, students must hold a valid Victorian driver’s license at the time of enrolment.

Application process: If you wish to be considered for this position, please submit an expression of interest by accessing the link below.
https://findanexpert.unimelb.e...

Parkville Campus, Building 184, Level 2, Royal Parade The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 Australia