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 who 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 Programme for Evolutionary and Developmental Biology studies the evolution and developmental biology of vertebrates, both separately and through interdisciplinary research, with the aim of understanding how the fundamental vertebrate body plan was assembled and developed over time. Our research particularly focuses on the deepest parts of the vertebrate evolutionary tree, from the origin of vertebrates to the transition from water to land, and on the development of terrestrial ecosystems during the Mesozoic Era – the geological period when dinosaurs dominated the Earth.

Duties
Main duties will include describing and interpreting fossil material, mainly coprolites (fossilised faeces), but also other fossils from early dinosaurs and contemporaneous animals of the Triassic and Jurassic periods. Particular attention will be given to fossils of the Chinle Formation and the Dockum Group (U.S.A.). The material will primarily be studied using synchrotron microtomography, a form of high-resolution X-ray imaging. The PhD student will generate and segment these data to reconstruct and interpret ecological and feeding adaptations in faunas with early dinosaurs. In collaboration with specialists, the PhD student is expected to develop and/or adapt AI protocols for efficient handling of large synchrotron datasets. Results will be presented in scientific journals and at international scientific conferences.

In addition to research, the PhD student is expected to carry out some teaching duties, mainly as a laboratory assistant; teaching will comprise no more than 20% of the position. The PhD student will be offered the opportunity to spend a few months in the United States to study museum collections, participate in fieldwork, and collaborate with U.S.-based partners. Opportunities for fieldwork in Sweden will also be available.

Project description
The first 30 million years of dinosaur evolution – from their origin to their dominance of terrestrial ecosystems – remain an evolutionary event about which we know remarkably little. Previous research has mainly focused on analysing dinosaur phylogeny, while the ecological dynamics that drove their success are largely unknown.

This project aims to fill this knowledge gap by analysing a highly important series of terrestrial ecosystems throughout the Triassic period in the southwestern United States (the Chinle Formation and the Dockum Group). Coprolites are very common at these sites and contain identifiable food remains, yet they have never been studied in detail. By analysing bromalites (fossil digestive remains) using cutting-edge methods such as synchrotron microtomography and the development of new AI protocols, the PhD student will be able to draw conclusions about the food webs in which early dinosaurs participated. This will shed light on how their diets and ecological roles evolved over time. Comparative analyses of regions across Pangea and across different time periods will enable the reconstruction of a comprehensive paleoecological model that highlights the key factors behind their rise to dominance.

Methodology
The PhD student will supervise or directly perform all primary objectives of the doctoral project, including: (1) studying collected fossil material and performing CT and synchrotron scanning of high-interest specimens; (2) segmenting synchrotron data and handling 3D models in VG Studio Max or similar software;(3) studying coprolites and other fossils using various methods such as morphometrics, SEM/EDS, ToF-SIMS, and photogrammetry; (4) interpreting results in relation to evolutionary research questions; and (5) writing and publishing scientific articles.  Some fieldwork will be carried out to collect new data.

Representative samples will be scanned using non-destructive computed tomography (CT) and synchrotron microtomography. The resulting 2D images will be segmented using VG Studio Max or equivalent software. Other fossil material will also be studied to create an integrated picture of ecosystem development and changes in the paleoecology of American Triassic ecosystems.

The project will be jointly supervised by Martin Qvarnström, Grzegorz Niedźwiedzki, and Per Ahlberg (Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University) and Sterling Nesbitt (Department of Geosciences, Virginia Tech, USA). The PhD project is part of the ERC-funded project “Unravelling early dinosaur success through fossil digestive contents and trophic dynamics (DINO-DIGEST)”, awarded to Martin Qvarnström.

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: 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 with tomographic data of vertebrate fossils, segmentation software such as VG Studio Max, palaeoecology, and/or early dinosaurs is considered a merit.

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 13 April 2026 or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: Martin Qvarnström, email: martin.qvarnstrom@ebc.uu.se

Please submit your application by 27th February 2026, UFV-PA 2026/343.

In this recruitment we have replaced the cover letter with questions that you are asked to answer when making your application. The answers will be used as a part of the selection process.

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