PhD student in vertebrate palaeontology

Are you interested in working with vertebrate palaeontology, with the support of competent and friendly colleagues in an international environment? Are you looking for an employer that invests in sustainable employeeship and offers safe, favourable working conditions? We welcome you to apply for a PhD position in vertebrate palaeontology at the Department of Organismal Biology at Uppsala University.

The Department of Organismal Biology teaches and explores the evolution, development and function on the organismal level. For more information see www.iob.uu.se.

The Program of Evolution and Development studies the evolution and developmental biology of vertebrates, both separately and as an interdisciplinary research domain that aims to illuminate the assembly of the vertebrate body plan. There is particular focus on the deep part of the vertebrate family tree and correspondingly the early fossil history of the group, from the origin of vertebrates up to the fish-tetrapod transition, but we also study the development of Mesozoic terrestrial ecosystems. A major current research initiative is a broad multidisciplinary investigation of the origin of tetrapods (land vertebrates), financed by an ERC Advanced Grant and a Wallenberg Scholarship awarded to Program Head Per Ahlberg. This PhD position forms part of that research initiative.

Duties

The duties will consist of studying, interpreting, analysing and describing fossil material of Devonian tetrapods, mainly but not exclusively Ichthyostega, using synchrotron microtomography (a type of advanced high-resolution 3D x-ray scanning) and other modern techniques. The PhD student will study these data, reconstruct and interpret the anatomy of the tetrapods, and on that basis analyse their interrelationships, probable lifestyles and so on. The results will be presented in scientific journals and at international scientific conferences. In addition to research, the student is expected to carry out some teaching, principally as a lab assistant. There will also be opportunities for fieldwork.  

Project description

Tetrapods evolved from fishes during the Devonian Period, 420-359 million years ago. Fossils of Devonian tetrapods are now known form many parts of the world, but the first to be discovered was the “four-legged fish” Ichthyostega, which was described in 1932 from Late Devonian strata in Greenland. The Devonian tetrapod fossils from Greenland are still some of the most complete and informative. Per Ahlberg’s research group is world-leading in the study of the origin of tetrapods and is working actively with historic as well as recently collected fossil material from Greenland. As part of this work, the Ichthyostega material now needs to be reinterpreted, partly with the aid of modern techniques such as synchrotron microtomography. The anatomy of the animal will be investigated in detail, compared with other early tetrapods (among them new forms which we are now describing on the basis of newly collected material from Greenland), and used for analyses of interrelationships (phylogeny) and mode of life. Depending on available time, there may also be space in the project for work on the newly discovered Devonian tetrapods from Greenland.

Methodology

The PhD student will direct or personally carry out all the primary objectives of the project, including 1) comparative morphological studies; 2) synchrotron scanning of specimens and segmentation (3D reconstruction) of the resulting scan data; 3) phylogenetic analyses; 4) evolutionary interpretation of the results; and 5) manuscript preparation. The project will be supervised jointly by Per Ahlberg and Grzegorz Niedzwiedzki (both at the Departmenr of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University).

Requirements

To meet the entry requirements for doctoral studies, you must

• hold a Master’s (second-cycle) degree in palaeontology or 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.

The qualification requirements for this position are: practical research experience of working with tomographic data of vertebrate fossils, full written and spoken fluency in English, and the ability to both carry out research independently and to integrate successfully into a close-knit team working on a large research project under the leadership of the principal PhD supervisor.

Additional qualifications

Practical experience of working with early tetrapod fossils, especially on the basis of tomographic data, is meritorious for this position.

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

About the employment

The employment is a temporary position according to the Higher Education Ordinance chapter 5 § 7. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date 10th of January 2026 or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: (Per Ahlberg, email: per.ahlberg@ebc.uu.se).

Please submit your application by 10 November 2025, UFV-PA  2025/3053.