- Vacancy Reference Number
- N/A
- Closing Date
- 15 May 2019
- Salary
- Depends on location
- Address
- Different institutions across Europe
- Duration
- 3 years
Chronic stress is at the core of many animal welfare challenges, including those in poultry welfare. It is therefore crucial to understand how hens respond to stress, and to devise strategies to reduce chronic stress in laying hens. However, chronic stress is not easy to detect and quantify, because it is essentially an internal response. We should be able to measure such an internal response in the animals’ brains.
The ChickenStress consortium aims to understand how the stress response is regulated in the avian brain and to minimize chronic stress by investigating the three main contributors to variation in the stress response:
genetic variability
early-life environment
current environment
By understanding the impacts of these factors, we will be able to produce more stress resilient birds in higher welfare housing conditions, and thereby enhance animal welfare and productivity. It will also give us a deeper understanding of stress resilience in general.
We are currently hiring 14 Early Stage Researchers (PhD students) across the entire consortium to help us achieve these aims. We will provide a distinctive multi-disciplinary training environment which will prepare the PhD students for careers in academia, policy making, or industry. More details about each of the PhD projects and how to apply for them can be found on the website: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/cbe/chickenstress.
Further Information
www.ncl.ac.uk/cbe/chickenstress
Contact Details
chickenstress@ncl.ac.uk
