Symbioses and the evolutionary transition to multicellularity A fully funded PhD position is available to work on the evolution of symbioses and transitions to multicellular life. Across the tree of life, multicellularity has repeatedly evolved, but how and why has this happened? Many multicellular organisms rely on symbioses to survive and reproduce. For example, species as diverse as land plants, insects and corals have critical partnerships with microbes to acquire essential resources. However, whether such partnerships were important during the initial evolution of multicellularity remains unclear. This PhD position will help address this gap by studying symbioses between bacteria and green algae and how this influences the evolution of multicellularity. Across the green algae radiation there are unicellular and multicellular species that represent multiple gains and losses of multicellularity. We have a wide range of unicellular and multicellular algae in the lab, such as Chlamydomonas and Volvox species, that have different bacterial communities. In addition, we have access to long-term monitoring data of lakes across Sweden documenting when and where different algal species occur. Together, this enables experimental investigations into the initial evolution of multicellularity and studies on the ecology of unicellular and multicellular species in nature. It is envisaged that the project will use a combination of experimental evolution, comparative genomics and sampling of natural systems. For more details see papers here: https://charliecornwallis.github.io/Group/ Apply here: https://lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:879408/ Charlie Cornwallis Professor of Evolutionary Biology Department of Biology Lund University Kontaktv�gen 10 SE-223 62 Lund Sweden Web: https://charliecornwallis.github.io/Group/ Charlie Cornwallis (to subscribe/unsubscribe the EvolDir send mail to golding@mcmaster.ca)