Postdoc in population genomics and bioinformatics on language evolution 70

vor 3 Wochen

Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz Universität Zürich Vollzeit
Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies
Postdoc in population genomics and bioinformatics on language evolution

70-80 % The NCCR Evolving Language invites applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher in population genomics and bioinformatics to study human language diversification from the viewpoints of the spread of humans and domesticated crop species at the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich.


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.

Your responsibilities The similarity of the genetic and linguistic evolution was pointed out by Charles Darwin. In the first phase of the NCCR, we found that both match and mismatch are common world-wide using the database of genomic and linguistic data GeLaTo (GEnes and LAnguage TOgether). Barbieri et al.

PNAS 2023 as well as local case studies:
Matsumae et al. Science Advance 2021, Arango-Isaza et al. Curr Biol 2023.

In the second phase, we plan to strengthen population genetic analysis including demographic analysis and genome-wide association studies to study the evolution of languages.

This project is a part of the "Population History" Task in the Work Package Stationarity of the NCCR which includes Prof.

Dr. Kentaro Shimizu (Main PI of this position), Prof. Balthasar Bickel (Department of Comparative Language Science), Prof. Andrea Migliano (Department of Evolutionary Anthropology), Prof. Chiara Barbieri (Univ. Cagliari) and a planned new professor in genetics of language. We expect further collaboration within and beyond the NCCR.

Furthermore, we plan to analyze genomes of crop plants to examine the farming/language dispersal hypothesis stating that many language families dispersed along with farmers and crop species.

Your profile PhD degree in biology using genome-wide polymorphism analysis to infer demography, selection or genome-wide association studies. Experience in linguistic data or machine learning will be an asset. Experience either in human or plant data is not essential but the motivation to study them is important.
What we offer We offer varied and interesting work in an inspiring and socially relevant environment.
Diversity and inclusion are important to us.
The University of Zurich offers a highly international, mostly English speaking and an interdisciplinary collaborative environment. In addition to NCCR, the opportunity to interact with colleagues in computational and experimental biology is available at the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies (Prof. Shimizu as the Director) as well as through the University Research Priority Program Evolution in Action (as a Co-Director). Zurich offers a great quality of life, consistently ranking in the top three cities worldwide.
UZH offers excellent opportunities and strong support for career development. Salaries are internationally competitive.
The project timeframe is 4 years on the basis of a yearly renewed contract.
We take gender balance and diversity seriously in our hiring decisions.
Place of workWinterthurerstrasse, Zürich, Switzerland
Start of employment We will begin reviewing applications end of April 2024 and seek to fill the position by June 2024. Earlier or later start points may be negotiated.

Application procedure

Please submit your application including your past research achievements, a letter of motivation that highlights your interests, your CV and two or more contacts for reference (or reference letters) and one or two samples of your work in a single PDF.

  • Position in Computational Genomics/bioinformatics

    Vor 6 Tagen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz Brain Research Institute, Laboratory of Neuroepigenetics (UZH and ETH) Vollzeit

    Brain Research Institute, Laboratory of Neuroepigenetics (UZH and ETH)_Position in Computational Genomics/Bioinformatics80-100 % :The laboratory of Neuroepigenetics at the Medical Faculty of UZH and the Department of Health Science and Technology (D-HEST) of ETHZ is looking for a bioinformatician to work on a project of multi-omics data analyses.The project...

  • Postdoc Position

    Vor 5 Tagen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies Vollzeit

    Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies_Postdoc position70 % :Are you a bioinformatician with strong bioinformatics skills? Do you have a passion for evolutionary biology? If you answer yes to both, a few Postdoc positions are available in the lab of Dr. Rie Shimizu-Inatsugi and Prof. Dr. Kentaro Shimizu at the University of Zurich.Our...

  • Bioinformatics Specialist and Trainer

    Vor 6 Tagen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics Vollzeit

    Job description SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics is a non-profit organisation federating over 80 Swiss research and service groups of experts in bioinformatics. SIB's 800 scientists join forces to empower advances in life sciences and health by providing life scientists and clinicians with state-of-the-art bioinformatics resources, services, expertise,...

  • PhD in Biomedical Data Science and Bioinformatics

    Vor 5 Tagen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz University of Zurich Vollzeit

    Your responsibilities The main project that the candidate will be responsible for (and which provides funding for the position) concerns the multimodal data analysis in colorectal cancer (clinical records and multiomics). The candidate is expected to contribute to other ongoing projects with regard to machine learning in genomics and bioinformatics. ...

  • Phd in Biomedical Data Science and Bioinformatics

    Vor 5 Tagen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz Department of Quantitative Biomedicine, Medical Informatics Vollzeit

    Department of Quantitative Biomedicine, Medical Informatics_PhD in Biomedical Data Science and BioinformaticsYour profile:Required skills: Expert knowledge in at least one programming language Basic knowledge of tumor genomics Basic knowledge in machine learning and openness to learn more Fluency in English Experience in working with large datasets on...

  • Genetics And Genomics Data Manager

    vor 3 Wochen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz GrabJobs Vollzeit

    Genetics and Genomics Data Manager (f/m/d) - Project management / academic collaboration / data generation /data analysis / genetic and genomic data / bioinformatics/ English Project : For our customer a big pharmaceutical company in Basel we are looking for a Genetics and Genomics Data ManagerBackground :Roche believes that diversity in scientific thinking...

  • Genetics And Genomics Data Manager

    vor 1 Monat

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz GrabJobs Vollzeit

    Genetics and Genomics Data Manager (f/m/d) - Project management / academic collaboration / data generation /data analysis / genetic and genomic data / bioinformatics/ English Project : For our customer a big pharmaceutical company in Basel we are looking for a Genetics and Genomics Data ManagerBackground :Roche believes that diversity in scientific thinking...

  • Postdoc in Neuropsychiatry and Biomarkers

    Vor 5 Tagen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz Department for Adult Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Vollzeit

    Department for Adult Psychiatry and Psychotherapy_PostDoc in Neuropsychiatry and Biomarkers50-80 % :Our research focuses on the early stages of cognitive decline, delirium and persisting neuropsychiatric syndromes in late adulthood and old age. Our main goals are to 1) better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms associated with neurocognitive and...

  • Staff Bioinformatician/Computational Biologist

    Vor 5 Tagen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz Institute of Microbiology Vollzeit

    Job description Data analysis. The candidate supports research projects of PhD students and postdocs at the IMB by applying (and/or advising on) appropriate biostatistics and modelling methods for the analysis, integration and visualization of omics data (e.g., genomics, metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics). Data and IT...

  • Postdoc Position On «gaps Within and Between

    Vor 6 Tagen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz Eawag Vollzeit

    Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Dübendorf, Switzerland) and WSL, the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (Birmensdorf, Switzerland), are internationally recognized research institutes within the ETH Domain (Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology). They offer excellent facilities for...

  • Director and Segment Lead Genomics

    Vor 6 Tagen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz Tecan Vollzeit

    Join Tecan Join the market leaderWork in an international and dynamic environment, share our successEver wondered how your skills and unique background could impact the world of tomorrow?_ _Join our Life Sciences Business team and bring your passion and talent to work.Director and Segment Lead GenomicsMännedorf, Zurich - SwitzerlandYour...

  • Postdoc Position On «exchange Platforms Between

    Vor 5 Tagen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz Eawag Vollzeit

    Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, is an internationally networked aquatic research institute within the ETH Domain (Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology). Eawag conducts research, education and expert consulting to achieve the dual goals of meeting direct human needs for water and maintaining the function and integrity...

  • Bioinformatics Scientist

    Vor 6 Tagen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz Wyss Zurich Vollzeit

    Wyss Zurich_Bioinformatics Scientist100 % :The Wyss Zurich Translational Center (Wyss Zurich) is a joint accelerator of the ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, which was made possible by a generous donation from the Swiss entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr. hc. mult. Hansjörg Wyss. The mission of Wyss Zurich is to drive the clinical translation and...

  • Postdoc Position On «inter- and Transdisciplinary

    Vor 5 Tagen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz Eawag Vollzeit

    Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Dübendorf, Switzerland) and WSL, the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (Birmensdorf, Switzerland), are internationally recognized research institutes within the ETH Domain (Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology). They offer excellent facilities for...

  • Postdoctoral Scientist in Bioinformatics

    Vor 6 Tagen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research SIAF Vollzeit

    Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research SIAF_Postdoctoral Scientist in Bioinformatics100 % :The Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research (SIAF) and AO Research Institute (AO) in Davos is an associated research institute of the University Zurich and member of Life Sciences Zurich Graduate School and Academia Raetica. It is performing academic and...

  • PostDoc in Neuropsychiatry and Biomarkers 50

    vor 3 Wochen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz Universität Zürich Vollzeit

    Department for Adult Psychiatry and PsychotherapyPostDoc in Neuropsychiatry and Biomarkers50-80 % Our research focuses on the early stages of cognitive decline, delirium and persisting neuropsychiatric syndromes in late adulthood and old age. Our main goals are to 1) better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms associated with neurocognitive and...

  • PostDoc in Neuropsychiatry and Biomarkers 50

    Vor 6 Tagen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz Universität Zürich Vollzeit

    Department for Adult Psychiatry and PsychotherapyPostDoc in Neuropsychiatry and Biomarkers50-80 % Our research focuses on the early stages of cognitive decline, delirium and persisting neuropsychiatric syndromes in late adulthood and old age. Our main goals are to 1) better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms associated with neurocognitive and...

  • PostDoc in Neuropsychiatry and Biomarkers 50

    vor 3 Wochen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz Universität Zürich Vollzeit

    Department for Adult Psychiatry and PsychotherapyPostDoc in Neuropsychiatry and Biomarkers50-80 % Our research focuses on the early stages of cognitive decline, delirium and persisting neuropsychiatric syndromes in late adulthood and old age. Our main goals are to 1) better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms associated with neurocognitive and...

  • Technical Assistant

    Vor 5 Tagen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz Functional Genomics Center Zurich Vollzeit

    The Functional Genomics Center Zurich (FGCZ) is a joint state-of-the-art research and training facility of the ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich. With the latest technologies and key expertise for omics research, the FGCZ provides research services and project support to the Zurich life science research community. Project backgroundThe FGCZ...

  • Two Postdoc Positions On Human Cooperation and

    Vor 5 Tagen

    Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz Department of Psychology Professorship for Social and Economic Psychology Vollzeit

    Department of Psychology_ Professorship for Social and Economic Psychology_Two PostDoc positions on human cooperation and social dynamicsOur lab aims to contribute to a better understanding of how groups overcome social dilemmas (think of the prisoner's dilemma, or the public goods problem), how individuals develop trust and reciprocity within and across...