Postdoctoral researcher in insect morphology and evolution

The Finnish Museum of Natural History (LUOMUS) at the University of Helsinki invites applications for a

Postdoctoral researcher in insect morphology and evolution

for a fixed-term period of two years. The work will be based at the Finnish Museum of Natural History (Luomus), Helsinki, Finland. The postdoctoral researcher will join the PhenoBees project, funded by the Research Council of Finland, and work under the supervision of Diego S. Porto, an Academy Research Fellow. The successful candidate is expected to start by September 2026.

ABOUT THE POSITION

The main goal of the PhenoBees project is to develop a semantic data workflow to integrate comparative information from different phylogenetic datasets (for more details, see: PhenoBees page) and address hypotheses about the evolution of the mouthparts of bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). As part of the main project, the work of the postdoctoral researcher will be focused on generating, processing, and analysing comparative morphological data on bee mouthparts. The ultimate goal of the postdoctoral research is to understand the drivers and dynamics underlying the evolution of the mouthparts in bees.

The postdoctoral researcher will be primarily responsible for:

Data collection: Dissecting and preparing material of bee mouthparts and measuring anatomical structures;

Data analysis: Analysing comparative data (discrete and continuous traits) to test alternative hypotheses of modularity/integration of mouthpart structures in bees;

Morphological study: Performing comparative anatomical study of a representative of a long-tongued bee and a short-tongued bee;

Dissemination: Contributing in manuscript writing and attending conferences