PhD positions: Rapid evolutionary genomics in plants Moi Exposito-Alonso Lab - www.moilab.science Assistant Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley Freeman Hrabowski Scholar, Howard Hughes Medical Institutes (HHMI) Details * Lab located in Valley Life Sciences Building, University of California Berkeley campus, CA 94720, USA * Starting annual salary guaranteed minimum $46,000 with yearly rises, for 5 years (this pay scale is set up by the lab, not the program) * This PhD is research focused. Requirement of teaching assistance is to two classes. * National and international applicants welcome. * Deadline date: Dec 1 2024 * Starting date: Fall 2025 Description Our lab asks the fundamental question: Are plants evolving to global climate change? We tackle this from a core population evolutionary genomics angle, integrating molecular biology and macroecology approaches. We aim to recruit highly motivated PhD students into our lab with undergraduate background in plant biology, evolutionary biology, and/or genomics. Research experience is advantageous but not required. We are a highly interactive, interdisciplinary, and diverse lab. We target scientific excellence as well as building a positive community for growth. You can read our value statement here: www.moilab.science/our-values. We provide support and freedom for PhD students to design their thesis with input and help from their advisor and peers. As an example, some possible PhD projects could be: How fast can rapid genetic adaptation be? (This would be an evolutionary genetics and bioinformatics project, which may require whole-genome sequencing and experimental evolution, and popgen bioinformatics data analysis. Example publication www.GRENE-net.org). What are the phenotypes involved in plant adaptation? (This is a more evolutionary ecology direction, will require field experimental ecology work, and data analyses, experiments at nature.berkeley.edu/oxford-facility along the lines of moilab.science/climate-change-evo-experiments . Example publication ). How do population biogeography/history and admixture interact with local adaptation? (An evolutionary genetics and experimental ecology, and bioinformatics direction. Example publication ). Can we re-create rapid adaptation? (This has a more molecular biology component, which requires laboratory work with CRISPR constructs, gRNAs design, genotyping, and at its core answers basic evolution and genetics questions. Example publication ). How are diverse plant communities in temperate or tropical regions changing? (This requires a field ecology background, statistical analyses, and/or genome assembly and population genomics work. Example publication ). Contact & application Link to all Berkeley programs and how to apply ??' https://grad.berkeley.edu/admissions/steps-to-apply/apply/ Informal form for MOILAB pre-submission interests ??' https://forms.gle/T1MN75iYn8MKdnBZA moisesexpositoalonso@gmail.com (to subscribe/unsubscribe the EvolDir send mail to golding@mcmaster.ca)