Postdoctoral position in conservation genomics and experimental evolution

The Hologenomics Section, Globe Institute, University at Copenhagen, is looking for a dedicated and enthusiastic postdoctoral researcher to join our team. This position is part of the research project “Back from the Brink: experimental de-extinction in a model-organism to restore lost diversity”, funded under the Villum Experiment Programme. The project explores the potential of gene editing technologies for conservation using an experimental setting, the risks and consequences for the management of genetically vulnerable populations. Duration: one year.

About the position

Gene editing has emerged as a promising—yet still largely unexplored—and in some cases a last‑resort tool to restore genetic diversity in populations on the brink of extinction. This potential however raises a fundamental question: can targeted genetic interventions help restore resilience in populations pushed beyond their natural adaptive limits, and if so, under what ecological conditions, practical constraints and risks? This project addresses this question empirically. It will experimentally push populations of Caenorhabditis elegans to the brink of extinction, edit genes and restore lost diversity in genetically impoverished populations. The main goal of this project is to benchmark the use of gene editing technologies for conservation. The ultimate aim is to assess whether gene editing can offer a viable complementary tool in conservation strategies.

Your job

As a postdoctoral researcher, you'll work at the cutting edge of gene editing technologies, experimental evolution and conservation, maintaining, monitoring and analyzing highly replicated C. elegans populations. Responsibilities include maintaining several wild and lab‑adapted strains and conducting bottleneck experiments, identifying and implementing genomic markers for targeted editing, as well as characterizing shifts in population genetic diversity over time. The work involves hands-on laboratory tasks, maintenance of nematode lines, large‑scale DNA extractions, and CRISPR-based genome editing combined with data analysis. In addition to producing high‑resolution experimental datasets, you’ll apply computational and statistical approaches to measure genomic diversity, mutation load and selection using pooled datasets. You will contribute to benchmarking gene editing technologies for conservation. Beyond insights from experimental evolution, your work will advance theory and applied methods that connect gene editing outcomes with population‑level evolutionary processes, opening new perspectives on the role of genetic interventions in restoring lost diversity and rebuilding resilience in collapsing populations.

Further information

For further information please contact the project leader Bárbara Parreira, barbara.parreira@sund.ku.dk or the leader of the Evolutionary and Conservation Genomics Group Hernán Morales, hernanm@sund.ku.dk.

If you are an international applicant, you can read more about living and working in Denmark at the University of Copenhagen website: www.ism.ku.dk (International Staff Mobility).

Please visit the job add for more information on the position and to apply.