The NCCR Evolving Language invites applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher in population genomics to study the demography of humans and domesticated crop species related to language evolution at the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich.
Your responsibilities
Similarities between genetic and linguistic evolution were first pointed out by Charles Darwin. Within the NCCR project, we used human population genomic data at a global scale to explore the extent of matches and mismatches between genes and languages, with the database GeLaTo (GEnes and LAnguage TOgether) (Barbieri et al. PNAS 2023), and we also explored local case studies in Asia and in South America (Matsumae et al. Science Advance 2021, Arango-Isaza et al. Curr Biol 2023). With the new Postdoctoral Researcher position, we will expand our team on the genetic studies of human and plant diversity with new projects, testing hypothesis on gene-language coevolution, and looking at case studies of language families spreading along with farmers and crop species (farming/language dispersal hypothesis). The position is in the group of Prof. Dr. Kentaro Shimizu (Main PI, Department Director, group website)) in collaboration with other groups.
Your profile
- PhD degree in biology
- Background in population genetics, molecular anthropology, or bioinformatics
- Experience in genome-wide polymorphism analysis to infer demography, selection or genome-wide association studies (machine learning is a plus)
- Interest in human prehistory, linguistics, human and plant genetic diversity
- Proficiency in English
Information on your application
The University of Zurich offers a highly international, mostly English speaking and an interdisciplinary collaborative environment. Zurich offers a great quality of life, consistently ranking in the top three cities worldwide.
The NCCR is a Swiss National Center of Competence in Research with the goal of creating a new discipline, Evolutionary Language Science, that targets the past and future of language. The center consists of leading scientists from traditionally separated academic domains, which allows us to harvest the diverse expertise from the humanities, social sciences, computational sciences, natural sciences and medicine towards a broadscale interdisciplinary collaboration. The project is carried with supervision from project PI Prof. Dr. Kentaro Shimizu, Prof. Dr. Chiara Barbieri (University of Cagliari & University of Zurich), and in collaboration with NCCR director Prof. Dr. Balthasar Bickel, Department of Comparative Language Science, Prof. Dr. Andrea Migliano, Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, and a new professor in genetics of language. We expect further occasions to collaborate within and beyond the NCCR.
UZH offers excellent opportunities and strong support for career development. Salaries are internationally competitive. UZH and the NCCR project invest in gender balance and inclusiveness. Employment is at 80% FTE. Link
The initial contract is for 1 year and renewable during the project timeframe (until May 2028).
Workplace: The positions are primarily located at the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies (Prof. Shimizu as the Director), Irchel campus. The NCCR supports exchange with other departments in its network.
Please submit your application in a single PDF. The file should include your past research achievements, a cover letter that highlights your interests in the position, your CV, two or more reference contacts (or reference letters), and one or two samples of your research work.
We will begin reviewing applications end December and seek to fill positions as soon as possible. The search will remain open until the position is filled. Earlier or later start points may be negotiated.