I am looking for a PhD student to work in theoretical evolutionary genetics. The PhD project will explore potential conflict and collaboration between transposons and their Drosophila hosts. To this end the PhD student will model population dynamics of transposable elements both within a genome and across species. This project is also highly interdisciplinary as these theoretical results will be compared to the experimental findings from the collaborative project by Prof. Wilfert (University of Ulm).

The position is funded for three years as part of the project FlyInnovation, a collaborative project together with the empirical group of Prof. Wilfert, working within the DFG-funded Priority Programme GEvol (http://g-evol.com/).

Research tasks: - development and analysis of eco-evolutionary models; - numerical implementation (e.g. C++, julia, python); - genomic data analysis (obtained from the Wilfert lab and the wider consortium of the GEvol Priority Programme) and comparison to theoretical predictions; - writing of scientific publications; - interdisciplinary collaboration with the Wilfert lab

Our expectations: - university degree in a relevant scientific discipline (e.g. mathematics, physics, bioinformatics, biology); - aspiration and ability to do a doctorate; - programming skills in at least one programming language (e.g. R, python, julia, C++); - interest in both biological and mathematical questions; - good proficiency in spoken and written English; - excellent communication skills to work as part of an interdisciplinary collaborative team

Preferred experience and skills: - experience with mathematical modelling and/or experience with genomic data analysis

Please send your application in one single PDF file by July 31 2022. Applications should be sent to p.czuppon@uni-muenster.de and should include 1) a cover letter with a statement of research interests and motivation (max. 1 page), 2) a CV including details about research experience and (if it applies) publications, and 3) contact details for two references.

For further information, please contact Pete Czuppon (p.czuppon@uni-muenster.de) or consult the official advertisement at: https://www.uni-muenster.de/Rektorat/Stellen/ausschreibungen/st_20222406_sk13.html

Best wishes,
Pete Czuppon