Despite the prominent ecological role of marine phytoplankton that is responsible for about half of global primary productivity, it remains severely understudied and surprisingly little is known about how plankton species originate and adapt to changing environment. The student will be part of a research group that is conducting pioneering research on evolutionary genetics and genomics in a range of organisms, including marine phytoplankton. The details of a DPhil project would be defined in discussion with the student, but are likely to focus on evolutionary genetic processes underpinning formation of new phytoplankton species and their adaptation to environmental changes. The work will involve significant evolutionary genomic and bioinformatic component to analyse large amounts of high-throughput genome sequence data available for phytoplankton species.
Qualifications and Experience
