Join the lab!

Global South Fellowship Scheme

The Faculty of Science at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) would like to host four research fellows from the Global South in 2026. If you are a researcher from the Global South and would you like to spend two or more months in Amsterdam conducting research in collaboration with one of our scientists, then please apply.

Step 1: reach out to a UvA scientist with a research idea that matches their research profile,
Step 2: once you have a committed UvA co-applicant, submit your application before November 15th 2025

PhD and Postdoc positions

Postdoc

There are currently no available postdoc positions. If you are interested in applying for a fellowship to work in the SNAIL lab:

  1. NWO Talent Program (Veni Grant) for applicants of any nationality with PhD obtained in the last 3 years (pre-proposal due in September of each year)
  2. Human Frontier Science program for applicants of any nationality (some eligibility criteria exist) within 3 years of PhD conferral (letter of intent due in March of each year)
  3. Marie Curie Postdoctoral fellowship for applicants of any nationality with PhD at time of deadline (due around September each year).
  4. EMBO postdoctoral fellowship for applicants within two years of their PhD attained outside of the Netherlands (due July of each year).

PhD

There are currently no PhD available positions. If you are interested in applying for a fellowship to work in the SNAIL lab:

  1. NWO Mosaic 2.0 for Dutch applicants of migrant backgrounds from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America and Turkey (pre-proposal due in May of each year).

Send inquiries to: n.c.starkloff@uva.nl

Masters and Bachelors internship projects

Are you an UvA biology student looking for an internship project for 2025?

I am recruiting 3-4 Masters (UvA Masters in Biological Sciences & Earth Sciences programs) and/or Bachelors (UvA Bachelors in Biology & Future Planets programs) students for 2025.

Projects you could do in my lab:

  1. Transmission risk of snail-borne diseases across the seasonal cycle in Tanzania: Land use change in Tanzania has led to an increase in habitat created for snails that can transmit tropical diseases to humans, livestock and wildlife. As a part of this study, you will investigate spatial and temporal risk points of transmission. This project will involve 1-2 trips to northwestern Tanzania to conduct field work and associated costs will be covered by the lab. If you are interested, it is important to consider that field work in the tropics can be an enduring process. MASTERS STUDENTS ONLY.
  2. Transmission risk of snail-borne diseases in the annual cycle of livestock farming in the Netherlands: Livestock farms here in the Netherlands provide habitat for snails that can transmit diseases to cattle and wildlife, and occasionally humans. As a part of this study, you will investigate spatial and temporal risk points of transmission in aquatic agricultural habitats. This is a new project, and you will help develop it. This project allows for field collection about a 20-minute by bike from Science Park.
  3. Sri Lankan-Dutch collaborative bachelors thesis project 2026: This thesis project focuses on topics in both the natural and social sciences and includes an eight-week visit to Sri Lanka. I will supervise three UvA Future Earth students in this research program, with the opportunity to carry out research in either the tea-growing hill country region or the eastern coastal region of Sri Lanka. You will develop a project on topics such as land use change, biodiversity loss, overfishing, climate change, land degradation, etc. This option is only available to UvA Future Planet Studies students and is a selective thesis program. Read this description and submit a motivation statement by 1 December 2025 to apply for this opportunity.
  4. Design a project: If you have a solid research idea in the realm of field biology, behavioral ecology, disease ecology, community ecology, urban ecology, forest ecology, tropical ecology, you are welcome to pitch it to me. If it is a good fit, I am happy to work with you to develop it. This could be a field, lab or computational project. 

If you are interested in projects 1, 2 & 4, fill out this form.