We are recruiting a postdoctoral candidate for a scholarship position
in evolutionary genomics of polyploidization.

The scholarship is for one year with opportunity for prolongation for
an additional year. The position is based in the SPeciation, Adaptation
and Co-Evolution (SPACE) lab at Lund University, Sweden. The candidate
will be part of the research groups of Dr. Anna Runemark and Dr. Magne
Friberg. The SPACE research environment at Lund University currently
comprises Friberg, Runemark, an additional senior PI, three senior
scientists, seven postdocs, four PhD candidates and several MSc students
and research assistants interested in ecology and evolutionary genomics
of adaptation.

In the project, we will take advantage of polyploidization in Lithophragma
bolanderi, a plant complex with ploidy variation, and its specialized
Greya politella moth pollinator to study the genomic consequences of
the ploidy change in both interacting organisms. Polyploidization has
been shown to alter both floral morphology and scent in the L. bolanderi
complex (Gross et al. 2025 PNAS), with consequences for the interactions
with moths. We aim to investigate the genetic and gene expression changes
of polyploid plants, under selection to attract their pollinators. The
project builds upon findings of morphological and scent differences
between diploid and polyploid L. bolanderi, and differences between
neopolyploids and natural ones exposed to selection (Gross et al. 2025
PNAS, Friberg et al. 2019 PNAS).

The work will largely be based on analysis of a WGS dataset from
comprising phenotyped plants, including six tetraploids and four
hexaploids, all from divergent populations, as well as ca. 70 diploid
genomes from a range of populations both in sympatry and allopatry
with polyploids. There is room for the candidate to sequence additional
individuals and shape the project according to their research interests.

Eligibility: The scholarship is funded by the Carl Trygger foundation,
requiring candidates to have a PhD younger than 6 years exempting
documented parental leave and stipulating that candidates cannot have
been previously employed at Lund University. We are primarily searching
for a candidate with a strong background in evolutionary genomics and
a solid track record of bioinformatical analysis.

The Department of Biology at Lund University is a highly international
environment with weekly seminars with invited international speakers. The
Department also organizes a lot of social activities, including regular
joint division breakfasts, a well visited Friday pub, floor hockey,
board game nights etc.

Contact persons: Anna Runemark anna.runemark@biol.lu.se 
and Magne Friberg magne.friberg@biol.lu.se

Application: Please apply by sending an email containing a 2 page CV
and 1 page letter of interest to us at latest February 13th 2026.

Anna Runemark <anna.runemark@biol.lu.se>

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