Postdoctoral position in “Genomic signatures of adaptive evolution along the fast-slow life history continuum” (m / f / d) 80-100%

Human activities are driving environmental change at an unprecedented rate, imposing strong selection pressures on many organisms. The capacity of populations to adapt to such pressures is shaped by life-history traits such as lifespan, age at maturity, and reproductive strategy. Life-history theory predicts that these traits influence the strength and timing of selection, and ultimately the speed and limits of adaptive evolution, with important consequences for persistence and resilience.

The ERC Starting Grant project “Tipping dynamics and resilience in adapting ecological systems” aims to understand how the capacity of populations to adapt influence ecological resilience. Within this project, the postdoctoral researcher will investigate how genomic signatures of selection vary along the fast-slow life-history continuum, with a particular focus on disentangling the relative contributions of coding and regulatory evolution to adaptive potential. To address this question, the postdoc will combine comparative genomic and phylogenetic approaches with exploratory analyses of both proximal and distal regulatory elements, including the use of emerging sequence-based genomic foundation models (e.g. DNABERT, AlphaGenome, etc).

We are looking for a motivated early-career researcher with a PhD in computational evolutionary biology or related field. Experience with comparative genomics and phylogenetic methods is required. The candidate should be comfortable working with large multi-species genomic datasets and have a strong conceptual background in evolutionary theory. Experience analyzing noncoding regulatory regions and an interest in regulatory evolution and life-history theory would be advantageous. Experience with, or interest in, modern sequence-based machine-learning approaches and genomic foundation models is an asset. The working language in the group is English; fluency in speaking and writing is required. The position is fully funded for two years (with possibility of extension to one more year) and is expected to start in Q2 of 2026.

The postdoctoral researcher will be based in the group of Dr. Catalina Chaparro () at Eawag, Duebendorf, near the city of Zurich. We offer a stimulating and international research environment, excellent research facilities and a supportive working environment. Zurich hosts many other research groups in evolution and biodiversity research and is among the world’s leading cities in terms of science, culture and quality of life.

Deadline for applications is 10 March 2026 or until the position is filled. Your application should include a letter explaining your research background and motivation to apply for this position, a CV, university diplomas, and the names and contact information for three references (all in one pdf file).