The positions form part of a group of 15 PhD students now being 

recruited to the EU-funded Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training 

Network BIG4 ( http://big4-project.eu/ ). The core of BIG4 is 

interdisciplinary, cutting-edge research on the diversity and evolution 

of the four largest insect orders: Hymenoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera, and 

Lepidoptera (Biosystematics, Informatics and Genomics of the 4 big 

insect groups).

 The program offers unique opportunities in terms of 

preparing students for an academic or a business career. The training 

will include secondment to other European labs in the network, and to 

small companies in the biotechnology and IT sector. The program also 

includes network-wide training events, and seeks to build student skills 

in creativity and innovation.

The two PhD student positions advertised here will be formally 

associated with the Department of Biology at Lund University, Sweden ( 

http://biology.lu.se/ ). The positions will be supervised by Niklas 

Wahlberg, who has recently been hired by Lund University as a Professor 

in Biological Systematics. The Wahlberg lab has a strong research 

tradition in Lepidoptera systematics and evolutionary biology ( 

http://www.nymphalidae.net/ ).

Position 1: Lepidoptera phylogenomics

The successful candidate for this position will be using Next Gen 

sequencing approaches to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships of 

several species rich groups of Lepidoptera. The project will be 

particularly focussed on retrieving large amounts of genetic information 

from museum specimens using similar approaches to those used in 

sequencing fossils. The student will work in the lab developing 

protocols, do bioinformatics on resulting sequences and analyze data 

using phylogenomic methods. Apply here: 

https://lu.mynetworkglobal.com/en/what:job/jobID:67668/where:4/

Position 2: Lepidoptera diversification dynamics

The successful candidate for this position will be estimating times of 

divergence for selected groups of Lepidoptera, in particular Noctuoidea 

and Geometroidea, and elucidating factors behind diversification of 

those clades. The candidate will be using the latest algorithms for 

finding correlations between diversification rates and factors such as 

host plant use and historical biogeography. Apply here: 

https://lu.mynetworkglobal.com/en/what:job/jobID:67677/where:4/

More information from Niklas Wahlberg (
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