Fully-funded PhD thesis opportunity in eco-evo modelling per a l'Institut de ciències del mar

Do you dream of reconstructing the history of life on Earth and understanding the forces that shaped the biodiversity we see today? If so, the INDICiOS project team invites you to embark on an exciting journey through deep time. We seek a highly motivated candidate to learn about eco-evolutionary modelling and the fascinating history of animal evolution. 

The successful candidate will join the project team led by project PIs Pedro Cermeno (ICM-CSIC) and Sergio Vallina (Spanish Institute of Oceanography), alongside model developer Carmen Garcia-Comas (ICM-CSIC), and our team of world-renowned external collaborators: Michael Benton (University of Bristol), Lewis Jones (University College London), and Alexandre Pohl (Université de Bourgogne).

Job description

INDICiOS will revolutionize our understanding of marine biodiversity by building upon our previous INDITEK model, a groundbreaking spatially explicit eco-evolutionary model. We will use state-of-the-art reconstructions of Earth's paleogeography, along with simulations of ocean environmental conditions to track the evolution of marine invertebrate diversity through hundreds of millions of years of Earth’s history.

By integrating high-resolution paleogeographic reconstructions, detailed simulations of ocean environmental conditions, and sophisticated eco-evolutionary modelling, INDICiOS will generate a Phanerozoic history of the marine latitudinal biodiversity gradient and biodiversity hotspots. This unprecedented view of the past will reveal how the forces of geology and evolution have shaped the diversity of life in the oceans, providing a deeper understanding of where, when, and how animal life flourished, and crucial insights for conservation efforts.

As a pre-doctoral researcher on the INDICiOS project, the successful candidate will be involved in:

• Refining existing eco-evolutionary models by incorporating speciation and extinction rates and implementing Bayesian calibration techniques.
• Reconstructing the history of the diversification of marine invertebrates, mapping the emergence, evolution, and demise of biodiversity hotspots.
• Testing hypotheses about the mechanisms underlying the origins and dynamics of the latitudinal biodiversity gradient and biodiversity hotspots.
• Contributing to scientific publications, presentations, and the development of a web application to visualize and share the project's findings.

Deadline: 20 September 2024

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