Graduate Position: U.Galway_PhDmacroevolutionBiogeography We are seeking a highly motivated candidate to pursue a PhD in our Biodiversity and Macroevolution Lab at the University of Galway. The idea is that, aligning the candidate?s interests and our expertise, we will together prepare a competitive application for a postgraduate scholarship from The Irish Research Council (currently named Research Ireland). ***About the group In the recently established Biodiversity and Macroevolution group (https://herrera-alsina.tilda.ws/) we deal with questions at large temporal and spatial scales. We mostly focus on the following themes: 1) Change in species distributions over time, 2) Evolutionary/ecological responses to change, 3) Ecological constraints to species diversification, 4) Biogeographic patterns, and 5) Trait evolution. A key element of the group is that we develop tools (i.e., R packages) using both likelihood methods and individual-based simulations to answer our questions. We then apply such methods to different taxa, ranging from archaea to vertebrates and plants. We also operate in the opposite direction: inspiration for projects comes from observing patterns in nature so that sometimes a research question is what calls for developing a new model. Our extensive international network enables the members of our lab to work together with other groups all over the world. The strategic placement of our group in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences allows opportunity to collaborate with highly-trained people in maths and machine learning to develop state of the art models of evolutionary diversification. ***Our view on PhD supervision I believe that me, as supervisor, should monitor three key aspects of a PhD student. First, the general wellbeing of the student. This includes encouraging them to have a healthy work-life balance. Second, the PhD student should learn. It is fundamental to use the best mentoring strategy to make sure the student develops the appropriate analytical and practical skills. Third, the PhD student should also produce tangible outputs. A PhD student should be guided to produce scientific papers, patents, or software that reflect their research and enable them to be competitive in the academic world. ***About the University The University of Galway is now ranked in the top 2% of universities worldwide and the top 100 universities in Europe. Ranked Ireland's #1 university for sustainable development in the Times Higher Education World Rankings (THE). Galway is one of those small cities which offers a wide range of cultural and sporting activities with a high standard of quality of life. **About you You are an enthusiastic person with a background in environmental or natural sciences, biology, or computer science. Your interests in science align with the themes of the group (there is always room for doing something different of course). You are happy to have independence when doing research but are also happy seeking guidance when needed. You are passionate about research and motivated to share your results with others. You are also experienced or willing to learn programming in R, Python and/or C++. According to the rules of the funding body, you also need to be national of a European Union member state (including the Republic of Ireland) OR Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom or Ukraine. ***What now? Together with the preferred candidate, we will put together a strong and competitive application for Research Ireland in the September 2026 call. Once the funding is successful, the candidate will start sometime in 2027. Please email me (leonel.herrera-alsina@universityofgalway.ie) the following documents: 1) One-page cover letter outlining research interests, and research experience, 2) One-page motivation letter, and 3) academic CV. Leonel H. Alsina Assistant professor/Lecturer in Bioinformatics, School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences University of Galway https://herrera-alsina.tilda.ws/ "Herrera-Alsina, Leonel" (to subscribe/unsubscribe the EvolDir send mail to golding@mcmaster.ca)