The Institute of Evolutionary Biology seeks a PhD student

Application deadline: 15th September 2024 

Reference: PhD student position

More information: 

The origin of multicellular animals from their unicellular ancestor represent one of the most
important evolutionary transitions in the history of life. However, and despite its
importance, the mechanisms underlying this transition remain largely elusive. Our
laboratory is at the forefront of addressing this fundamental question. Over the past 15
years, we have advanced considerably on our quest to unravel how animals originated.
We have unravelled who are the closest unicellular relatives of animals, got their genomes
to infer the genetic composition of the unicellular ancestor of animals, and we even have
established four species as emerging model systems to experimentally address questions
about the origin of animals.

Our research has shown that the unicellular ancestor of animals was much more complex
than previously thought. That ancestor already had the genetic raw material to evolve into
a multicellular organism. Our hypothesis is the unicellular ancestor had a highly
phenotypic plasticity and the capacity to differentiate into many different cell stages.
In this proposal, we aim to get additional data crucial to unravel the origin of animal cell
types, and understanding the role of the phenotypic plasticity in transition towards a
multicellular entity. We also aim to strengthen our experimental model systems so that we
can create the best possible functional platform to analyze the origin of animals. The
project and the results generated will have implications not only for evolutionary biologists,
but also to protistologists, cell biologists, and developmental biologists.

Research Group: 

The MultiCellGenome Laboratory (https://multicellgenome.com)

Interested candidates should e-mail ([email protected] and
[email protected] ), with the subject line “PhD student position” and (1) their
CV, (2) a motivation letter describing their interest in the project, and (3) contact
information of two potential references. Application deadline: 15th September, 2024.