The successful candidate will work on a project investigating the ecological and evolutionary implications of nutrient transfer among plants as a mechanism of cooperation in arid environments. The project will evaluate nutrient storage in plants after precipitation pulses, and its re-distribution among neighbors when soil water and nutrients are limited. The PhD will combine field work monitoring of plants phenology and fitness, temporal dynamics of the use of nutrients by plants, water use efficiency and seed production with stable isotope analyses to quantify nutrient transfer among plants and local adaptation of plant populations to the community in which they live. The applicant will be encouraged to propose her/his own ideas and research interests within this conceptual framework, and