Postdoctoral Position in the Theoretical Study of Evolutionary Systems
Starting date: January 2013. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
Institute: This is a position jointly offered by the Group of Evolutionary Systems at Centro de Astrobiología in Madrid (Dr. Susanna C. Manrubia) and by the Mathematics Department of Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Prof. José A. Cuesta). The candidate will be hired by Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.
Profile: We seek a postdoctoral researcher with a background in Physics or Mathematics and with experience or strong motivation in the study of biological problems, mainly in the framework of evolution. We will value previous experience in or knowledge of statistical mechanics, theoretical modeling, complex systems, networks, population dynamics, quasispecies, and any other skill useful to develop the project. Spoken and written English at a proficiency level is required.
Project: The successful candidate will work in the theoretical and computational characterization of evolving populations. A main goal of the project is to advance in the understanding of how neutral networks affect adaptation and evolution. A detailed knowledge of realistic genotype-phenotype maps has major implications in the patters observed in phylogenetic trees, which will be the principal test to theories. The model system can be RNA (sequence and folding) or other populations where the genotype-phenotype map can be made explicit. Some reference works are RNA 15, 743 (2009), BMC Evolutionary Biology 10, 46 (2010); ARBOR 746, 1051 (2010); Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 028104 (2011).