Post-doctoral Research Associate post – brain evo-devo

The morphological evolution group in the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge is looking for an enthusiastic and dedicated postdoc to work on our NERC funded project, ‘Genetic architecture of brain evolution during ecological divergence’. This NERC project aims to to reveal the nature of genetic variation facilitating brain evolution between ecologically divergent cichlid fishes to test the extent, nature and conservation of genetic associations among brain components. We are working on intraspecific variation and interspecific crosses between cichlid fish, to quantify and genetically map variation in brain composition. Alongside this, we will identify key developmental periods where trajectories of brain structure divide, providing a foundation to confirm the causative effects of genes implicated in brain evolution, and to examine how changes in the development of one structure impact another.

The position is based at the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, but will also work in collaboration with Dr. Stephen Montgomery and a post-doc in his group at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol.The successful candidate will compare brain development between species of cichlid fish, to identify when and how brain developmental trajectories diverge. For this purpose, the candidate will use HCR in situ hybridisation, antibody stainings and confocal imaging. Once key developmental stages are identified, the candidate will perform comparative transcriptomics using developing brain tissues to identify candidate genes associated with intra- and inter-specific variation. Finally, the candidate will functionally validate promising genes (identified both in the RNAseq and genetic mapping experiments) using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing tools.

For more information please see: https://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/38210/