ERC.2.EvolutionaryGenomics

Postdocs in evolutionary genomics and phylogenomics are available to join the ERC 'GENECLOCKS' project (http://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/207593_en.html) headed by Gergely Szollosi (http://ssolo.web.elte.hu) . Two positions are offered for 2 years with the possibility of extension up until the 2022 end date of the GENECLOCKS project. The position comes with a salary of up to EUR 43,200 per year (approx. up to EUR 2,400-2,900 net per month after taxes), as well as a travel and research funds.

We are looking for an individual who received his or her PhD preferably within the last six years, who is highly self-motivated and can work independently on a project that he or she will help develop in the context of GENECLOCKS. 

A central theme of GENECLOCKS is disclosing new sources of information for dating the first three-quarters of Earth's evolutionary history that are independent from both fossils and molecular clocks. Life's early history has remained terra incognita until now, because the fossils needed to calibrate standard evolutionary timescales are simply not available for microbial life. Microbial fossils are scarce and difficult to interpret in a phylogenetic context with confidence. In previous work we have shown that patterns of lateral gene transfer inferred from modern genomes encode a record of co-existing lineages throughout the history of life, and that we can use this record to reconstruct the relative ages of microbial groups from the three domains of life in deep time.

This discovery is a game changer for anyone interested in the history of life, from either a geological or genomic perspective. It demonstrates the existence of a new and abundant source of dating information that is inscribed in the genome of any organism, provided a gene transfer occurred in its ancestry. This constitutes the overwhelming majority of the diversity of life. 

Postdocs will undertake projects together with international collaborators with the goal of either i) developing new methods that systematically extract information on the pattern and timing of genomic evolution by explaining differences between gene trees, or ii) apply existing methods to resolve the timing of microbial evolution and its relationship to Earth history and answer long standing questions. Possible collaborations and associated projects include: 

Reconstructing a dated phylogeny of Bacteria in collaboration with Vincent Daubin at the LBBE in Lyon.

Developing and implementing bayesian methods for the species tree aware reconstruction of gene trees with Nicolas Lartillot at the LBBE in Lyon.

Reconstructing a dated phylogeny of Eukaryotes including their position within Archaea in collaboration with Tom Williams at the University of Bristol.

Developing and implementing new methods for species tree reconstruction in the context of hierarchical gene tree-species tree methods with Jens Lagergren at the Science for Life Laboratory in Stockholm.

Implementing and applying methods to include transfer derived relative age constraints in molecular clock estimates with Bastien Boussau at the LBBE in Lyon.

Developing novel gene tree-species tree reconciliation methods that model correlated gene histories with Eric Tannier at LBBE in Lyon. 

Research visits of up to several months are foreseen as part of potential collaborations.

To be considered, please send a single merged PDF to ssolo@elte.hu that contains your CV including publication list, preferably with a link to your google scholar profile, academic transcripts, a statement of research interests (3 pages or less) as well as three academic references. Please include 'GENECLOCKS17' in the subject of your email. Applications will be considered until October 1st, 2017, or until the position is filled. The position is available from the fall or winter of 2017.

The research group is lead by Dr. Gergely Szollosi ( https://scholar.google.hu/citations?user=sPrYT-oAAAAJ ) and is hosted at Eotvos Universities Institute of Physics in Budapest. The Institute of Physics has been included in the Excellence Group of European Universities, and has achieved top placement in the number of citations, the number of ERC grants, the time available for PhD research and the gender balance of master's students in the CHE Excellence Ranking. Budapest is a vibrant capital city with exciting cultural life, a unique atmosphere and affordable living costs (cf. https://goo.gl/86II3s ).

Please direct any enquiries to Dr. Gergely Szollosi (ssolo@elte.hu, http://ssolo.web.elte.hu).