PhD student in population genomics

The Department of Organismal Biology teach about, and explores the evolution, development and function on the organismal level. We study the deepest branches of the tree of life with the help of bioinformatics and experimental molecular techniques. Research about how chemicals of anthropogenic origin interact with cellular functions and cause long-lasting adverse health effects in humans and wildlife is also performed. For more information see www.iob.uu.se

The recent developments in population genetic and statistical methods to handle large-scale genetic information from many individuals coupled with advances in molecular tools to obtain genetic data from prehistoric individuals give us great opportunities to improve our understanding of the demographic history of many species. The project focuses on trying to disentangle population structure among humans over time. The project will investigate these processes using large-scale population genomic data from modern-day and prehistoric humans. The successful candidate will work in Professor Mattias Jakobsson's and Maximilian Larena’s research groups. The research program consists of an international team of researchers (senior scientists, post doctoral fellows, graduate students and research engineers) with different areas of expertise. The research focus on population genetics and human evolution using a combination of population genetic models and computational approaches to understand the complex patterns of large-scale human genetic variation and their implications for human demographic and evolutionary history. In particular, the research aims at understanding human evolution using genetic information from both recent and ancient individuals, developing statistical methods for analyzing large genomic data, and searching for genes targeted by selection. Our research is financed by the Swedish Research Council and Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. The research program is multidisciplinary with competence in computational biology, population genomics and ancient DNA, and associated with the Swedish Research Council’s excellence center for the Human Past (https://centerforthehumanpast.se/). The research environment is international with English being the working language. See the Jakobsson and Larena lab web-pages for more information and recent publications: http://jakobssonlab.iob.uu.se/ and https://www.larenalab.com

Duties
The PhD research project will focus on population genomic studies of present-day and prehistoric humans in the Asia-Pacific region. The duties will include large-scale analyses of genomic datasets, from now-living and prehistoric individuals, to make inferences about demographic history, migration and admixture, and adaptation. The projects will focus on human evolutionary history in Southeast Asia and Oceania. The specific project/s will be developed together with the successful candidate.

Requirements
To meet the entry requirements for doctoral studies, you must

• Hold a Master’s (second-cycle) degree in molecular biology/genetics or other orientation that the employer deems equivalent., or
• Have completed at least 240 credits in higher education, with at least 60 credits at Master’s level including an independent project worth at least 15 credits, or
• Have acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way.

We are looking for a person with good knowledge and experience in bioinformatics and good knowledge of laboratory work, with experience of working with palaeogenomics. Great importance to be placed on personal qualities such as:

• Good analytic skills, good collaboration and communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and to drive projects based on personal initiatives.
• Good skills in organization and planning work and projects. Responsible.
• Good English writing (and speaking) skills.

Additional qualifications
Experience of working in clean room conditions in ancient DNA lab. Experience handling and processing samples for ancient DNA research. Experience from large-scale population-genomic analyses are advantageous. Good knowledge of the prehistory of human populations in Asia and the Pacific including Southeast Asia and Oceania. Training in bioinformatics, genomics, molecular genetics is advantageous.

How to apply
The application should include 1) a letter of intent describing yourself, your research interests and why you want to do a PhD, 2) a short description of your education, especially in population genetics/genomics, statistics, bioinformatics, and other related areas, 3) a CV, 4) a copy of your master degree diploma, 5) the names and contact information (address, email address and phone number) of at least two reference persons, 6) relevant publications (including master thesis).

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: Professor Mattias Jakobsson, +46-18-471 6449, mattias.jakobsson@ebc.uu.se och Dr. Maximilian Larena, +46 18-471 2624, maximilian.larena@ebc.uu.se

Please submit your application by 28 November 2024, UFV-PA 2024/3920.

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