PhD student in climate-change driven adaptation and speciation

The Department of Ecology and Genetics is an international environment with staff and students from all over the world. Our research spans from evolutionary ecology and genetics to ecosystem studies. Learn more at www.ieg.uu.se. We are now looking for a PhD student in climate-change driven adaptation and speciation within the program Animal Ecology.

Project description
Our group combines data from a unique long-term field study with genomic approaches to better understand general mechanisms of adaptation and speciation. We have collected several decades of data from a natural hybrid zone of collared and pied flycatchers located on the Swedish island Öland. This PhD project has two main goals. First you will study how allelic variation in identified fitness-traits and changes in genome structure affect adaptive responses to ongoing climate change in pied and collared flycatchers. Second, the project will investigate if divergent climate adaptation has played a central role in the divergence of these two species. Long-term phenotypic data (22 years) is already collected and several state-of the art genomic technologies will be used. The PhD student will work together with a supervisor team with complementary skills and will have the opportunity to shape the detailed development of the project together with us. Read more about the team: https://www.uu.se/en/department/ecology-and-genetics/research/animal-ecology/qvarnstrom-lab.

Duties

The successful candidate will conduct field sampling (monitoring and experiments) but the main aim of the project is to combine information from already existing extensive datasets from this system through e.g. Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) methods. As many fitness traits are polygenic and ecological adaptation often relies on coordinated changes in a suite of traits, we will develop methods that take this complexity into account, thereby improving the predictions about future adaptive changes. The role of divergent climate adaptation in speciation will be evaluated by testing if the identified gene networks contain fixed differences between the two species that cause hybrid dysfunction and thereby reproductive isolation. The PhD student is expected to drive the writing and publication of the results in scientific journals. Attendance to local seminar series, participation in advanced relevant PhD courses and international conferences are also expected.  

Qualifications required
To meet the entry requirements for doctoral studies, you must

• hold a Master’s (second-cycle) degree in biology,
• 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 place high value on personal qualities such as an in-depth interest in evolutionary theory, strong collaborative skills and the ability to tackle analytic problems. Candidates must be able to express themselves fluently in spoken as well as written English and/or Swedish.

Qualifications desired

Previous experiences with field ornithology and/or bioinformatics are desired but not required. Previous experiences with practical research projects and statistical/mathematical modelling are highly desired.

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

Rules governing PhD students are set out in the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5, §§ 1-7 and in Uppsala University's rules and guidelines.

For further information about the position, please contact
Professor Anna Qvarnström, anna.qvarnstrom@ebc.uu.se, +46 18 471 6406.

Application instructions
The application should include 1) a letter describing yourself, your research interests, why you want to pursue a Ph.D., and why you are suitable for the position, 2) your CV, 3) a brief description of your education, 4) a copy of your master's degree and your course grades, along with a copy of your master's thesis, 5) names and contact details of at least two referees (email addresses and phone numbers), and 6) any publications if applicable. The application should be written in English.

You are welcome to submit your application no later than Mars 18, 2025. UFV-PA 2025/500.

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