Postdoctoral Position in Palaeolithic Gene-Culture Coevolution

The Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at the School of Culture and Society invites applications for a 30-month fixed-term postdoctoral position in Palaeolithic gene-culture coevolution. The appointment begins on February 1st, 2025, or as soon as possible thereafter.

The primary place of work will be Campus Moesgaard but due to the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of the project, the candidate is expected to be intermittently present at both the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at Campus Moesgaard and at Bioinformatics Research Centre at Universitetsbyen in central Aarhus.

Research context

We are looking for an innovative scholar with a background in archaeology preferably with a specialisation in the European Upper/Late Upper Palaeolithic, computational material culture analysis, and/or cultural evolution. 
The position is associated with the Villum Foundation Synergy project COEVOLVE, which aims to (i) develop a robust conceptual framework for long-term gene-culture coevolution, (ii) create a protocol for the creation of linked material culture and palaeogenomic data, and (iii) study gene-culture coevolution in the European Late Upper Palaeolithic (~20.000-11.000 BP). 

This data-driven project is led by two PIs – archaeologist Felix Riede and population geneticist Mikkel Schierup – and establishes interdisciplinary collaboration between archaeologists and bioinformaticians to create the first integrated workflow for reconstructing gene-culture coevolution using cophylogenetic methods applied in parallel to material culture data and ancient DNA.

The successful applicant is expected to participate in project activities related to gene-culture coevolutionary theory, data collection and analysis, and will actively collaborate closely with the project’s other postdoc, the two PIs and our colleagues and collaborators. They will be mainly supported by PI Felix Riede but will also work closely with PI Schierup and, in particular the companion postdoctoral researcher. They will further be working along other members of the CLIOARCH Collabulary. 

The position

The employment concerns the following main tasks:
-    Conceptual innovation in gene-culture coevolution with particular relation to
     cophylogenetics and related techniques
-    Literature review of relevant sites and their associated data in relation to palaeogenomic
     samples
-    Derivation of a data/metadata generation protocol for gene-culture coevolution
-    Collection of data existing databases and legacy materials
-    Application of phylogenetic methods on these data
-    Development of cophylogenetic methods that link archaeological and palaeogenomic
     data in a single workflow
-    Closely collaborate with COEVOLVE project members at AU 
-    Attend and actively participate in in-person project meetings, including project travel
-    Actively participate in remote project meetings
-    Present their research at international meetings
-    Publication of project outputs in peer-reviewed international journals, and open access
     code and data
-    Contribute to the organisation of research workshops and international conferences

Deadline
15 January 2025

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