Interested in the emergence of life on Earth, and in doing a PhD
project?  We have a PhD position available on Modelling the emergence
of information transfer in prebiotic self-replicating systems!  (
https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S000BBOP
) - applications still welcome until June 11 - as
one of the 15 PhD projects in the PRELIFE consortium
(https://www.originscenter.nl/prelife/).

The origin of life remains one of the greatest mysteries in science. While
many theories have been proposed, no single explanation has yet gained
universal agreement. That's where the PRELIFE consortium comes in. PRELIFE
unites experts across a wide range of disciplines from astronomy, biology,
chemistry, computer science, earth and planetary sciences, education,
mathematics, to physics. Together we will explore two fundamental
questions: How did life emerge on Earth, and how common are the conditions
elsewhere in the universe?

To answer these profound questions, we will take an interdisciplinary
approach, bringing together diverse perspectives to unlock new insights.
But we believe this question is not just for scientists, it is for
everyone. That's why we will invite teachers, students, and the public to
join us, through educational programs, artistic collaborations, and museum
partnerships. We're searching for answers to life's biggest questions, and
we need your help. As part of the PRELIFE program we offer 15 exciting
research projects which can be found at http://www.prelife.originscenter.nl
of which the research project of the current PhD position is one.

This project aims at uncovering how the capacity for Darwinian evolution
may have first arisen. While parts of this puzzle have been solved, an
important open question is the emergence of information transfer
(inheritance), one of the three key ingredients for Darwinian evolution.
Interestingly, for evolution to function, information transfer must be
near-perfect, but not flawless: with perfect replication, no variation will
be generated for natural selection to act on. In this joint PhD project
between the University of Groningen (promotors Prof. Martijn Egas,
martijn.egas@rug.nl, and Prof. Rampal Etienne, r.s.etienne@rug.nl) and
Utrecht University (co-promotor Dr. Bram van Dijk, b.vandijk@uu.nl), we aim
to uncover the conditions that allow near-perfect information transfer to
arise from simple interactions between simple building-blocks in early
prebiotic systems.

In this project, you will use computational models to explore the minimal
functional requirements for self-replication to emerge from polymerising
molecules. Instead of simulating specific chemistries in full detail, we
will build abstract, spatially explicit models of interacting molecules to
examine which properties (features of both the building blocks and the
environment) enable replication with sufficient variation and inheritance.
Using an open-ended model, we will explore molecular structures of life as
we know it (DNA), as well as other potential polymerisation rules. These
models will also help interpret and guide experiments, e.g. the stacking
fiber system pioneered by Prof. Sijbren Otto at the University of Groningen.

Martijn Egas <martijn.egas@rug.nl>

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