Doctoral Position in Evolutionary Genomics (Experimental/Computational)

id="offer-description" class="ecl-u-type-heading-2 ecl-u-mt-none ecl-u-mb-l">Offer Description A PhD position (3 years, with possible extension) is available immediately in the evolutionary genomics group of Henrik Kaessmann at Heidelberg University. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. We are seeking a highly qualified, motivated, and enthusiastic candidate with a keen interest in evolutionary questions and a passion and aptitude for experimental molecular/genomics work, computational/bioinformatics analyses, or both. Projects in our lab usually combine experimental and computational components, with the relative emphasis tailored to the specific project and the candidate’s interests and expertise. Our lab investigates a broad range of questions related to the origins and molecular evolution of organs in mammals and other vertebrates and the underlying genomic changes, with a particular focus on the evolution of gene expression and its regulatory basis. As part of this research, we have generated extensive comparative genomics datasets (e.g., single-cell RNA-seq and ATAC-seq) across species, based on samples from our unique organ collections, and analyzed them using state-of-the-art bioinformatics approaches, increasingly incorporating AI and deep learning (see, e.g., Sarropoulos et al., Science 2026). This work has provided insights into the origins and functional evolution of protein-coding genes, alternative splicing, long noncodi