Dos plazas de postdoc en un proyecto conjunto centrado en endemismo, cambio climático y colonización

Oferta compartida por Nuria

Two one-year postdoc positions (renewable for a second year) are available in Giorgio Bertorelle and Emiliano Trucchi research groups at the University of Ferrara (Italy) and Marche Polytechnic University (Ancona, Italy), respectively.

Both postdocs will work together on a recently funded project which will be carried out between the two research groups and in collaboration with University of Florence and Tuscia (Italy).

Using as a model an Italian endangered endemic species (the Apennine yellow-bellied toad, Bombina pachypus) that expanded northwards along the peninsula after the last glaciation, and an individual-based spatially explicit simulation model, the main scope of this project is to study the genomic consequences of a successful postglacial expansion inferring the major characteristics of this process and predicting the impact of geographic range expansions over different temporal scales.

The first position (@ Marche Polytechnic University) will be mainly devoted to the analyses of target capture genomic data to estimate differential loss of genetic variation and accumulation of deleterious mutations along the yellow-bellied toad expansion route (i.e., expansion load).

The second position (@ the University of Ferrara) will mainly focus on developing a realistic simulation model (i.e., using SLim) capable of generating genomic patterns compatible with those observed in the real system.

Both postdocs will use the realistic simulation model to understand how the rate of climate change and the velocity of the species in colonising new suitable habitats affect the expansion load and thus the probability of success of the colonisation.

Applicants’ selection will be in November-December 2023 and the ideal starting date will be between January and February 2024. Net salary will be ca.1600 EUR/month (which is in line with the costs of living in small-medium sized towns like Ferrara and Ancona).

Get in touch with Giorgio Bertorelle (ggb@unife.it) and Emiliano Trucchi (e.trucchi@univpm.it) for further information.