Postdoctoral Researcher, IsoMuseomics

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

Postdoctoral Researcher, IsoMuseomics

for a fixed-term period of three years. The work will be based at the Finnish Museum of Natural History LUOMUS at the University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. The postdoctoral researcher will join the IsoMuseomics project, and work under the supervision of Kyung Min Lee, the Head of DNA Laboratory and University Researcher. This position is part of Lee's four-year Academy Project, funded by the Research Council of Finland. The successful candidate is expected to start ideally by September 2026.

About the position

The IsoMuseomics project aims to trace genomic changes across a wide time span - up to 200 years - to understand how environmental changes have impacted their genomic diversity. The project focuses on Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) as model system, that are currently threatened or vulnerable, which serve as important ecological indicator. By analysing historical specimens from museum collections (dried and pinned specimens), we can investigate how these changes are encoded in their DNA, across both spatial and temporal scales. The majority of genomic data will be generated from historical museum specimens, which typically yield highly fragmented DNA.

The postdoctoral researcher will be primarily responsible for: Designing and analysing genomic datasets derived from fragmented whole-genome data

Conducting genome assemblies and SNP calling

Performing phylogenomics and population genomic analyses

Contributing to manuscript writing