Are you interested in working with palaeomolecular data, with the support of competent and friendly colleagues in an international environment? Are you looking for an employer who invests in sustainable employeeship and offers safe, favourable working conditions? We welcome you to apply for a researcher position in molecular paleontology at the Department of Organismal Biology at Uppsala University.
The Department of Organismal Biology teaches and explores the evolution, development and function on the organismal level. For more information see www.iob.uu.se.
The Programme for Evolutionary and Developmental Biology studies the evolution and developmental biology of vertebrates, both separately and through interdisciplinary research, with the aim of understanding how the fundamental vertebrate body plan was assembled and developed over time. Our research particularly focuses on the deepest parts of the vertebrate evolutionary tree (from the origin of vertebrates to the transition from water to land) and on the development of terrestrial ecosystems during the Mesozoic era – the geological period when dinosaurs dominated the Earth.
Duties
The main duties will involve developing and applying palaeomolecular protocols to identify endogenous biomolecules in fossil vertebrate bones. The project aims to investigate taphonomy and biomolecule preservation in vertebrate fossils, including interactions between fossil material and the surrounding environment. Ultimately, the work will use exceptionally preserved tissues and biomolecules to shed light on the evolution and development of early dinosaurs. The primary focus will be on exceptionally preserved dinosaur fossils from Triassic-Jurassic deposits of Sweden, although additional fossil material may also be included. In this role, you will contribute to the development of new palaeomolecular protocols, including the establishment of a palaeoproteomics research platform. The project is associated to the ERC-funded project “Unravelling early dinosaur success through fossil digestive contents and trophic dynamics (DINO-DIGEST)”, awarded to Martin Qvarnström. You will work closely with other members of the research group. Opportunities will also be provided to apply similar methods to additional datasets, participate in sampling campaigns, and present results at international conferences.
Project description
Great progress is being made in the fields of molecular archaeology and palaeontology, with increasing evidence that labile biomolecules can be preserved in increasingly older fossil material. The mechanisms underlying such preservation, and the conditions that enable it, however, remain complex and poorly understood. Fossil samples from extensive field work in Skåne by Martin Qvarnström and Grzegorz Niedźwiedzki have been pre-selected based on extensive prior taphonomic studies. This project will investigate palaeontological material that has been shown to contain exceptionally well-preserved tissues at sub-cellular resolution, including soft-tissue-like structures of currently unresolved composition, which this project aims to characterize. In your role as a researcher, you will synthesize this work and work together with the research group and collaborators to develop protocols for sampling and demineralisation of fossil bones under clean conditions in specialized laboratories. You will apply methods to extract and concentrate soft tissue material under strict contamination controls, with a primary focus on proteins, and prepare samples for imaging and peptide sequencing, and interpret the results. DNA sequencing will be performed to identify recent environmental signals to be cross-referenced with the peptide data. The resulting data will be compared against reference databases and environmental controls to assess contamination, identify environmental signatures, and characterise endogenous vertebrate palaeobiomolecules, which in combination with microcopy and geochemical protocols be used to cast new light on the biology of early dinosaurs (and other sampled fossil animals).
Methodology
You will supervise or directly perform all primary objectives of the project, including: (1) Further develop the project design in consultation with the PI and pre-existing infrasturtcures; (2) sample, demineralize and concentrate fossil bones for soft tissue analyses; (3) interpret the results in relation to key research questions; and (4) writing and publishing scientific articles. Other fossil material will also be studied to create an integrated picture of palaeomolecule preservation.
Requirements
You must have a PhD degree in molecular biology or similar, or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD degree in molecular biology or similar. Experience in palaeomolecular research and taphonomy is a requirement for the position. Furthermore, full written and spoken fluency in English is required.
The research will be conducted independently but will also be integrated into a team working on a larger research project led by the Principal Investigator (PI). Therefore, considerable emphasis will be placed on personal qualities, such as strong independently, collaboration skills and the ability to work in a goal-oriented, results-driven manner.
Additional qualifications
Experience working with taphonomy, environmental DNA, DNA and/or peptide sequencing, including bioinformatic data analysis, is considered a merit.
About the employment
The employment is fixed-term, 12 months. Scope of employment 100 %. Starting date September 1, 2026, or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala.
For further information about the position, please contact: Martin Qvarnström, email: [email protected]
In this recruitment we have replaced the cover letter with questions that you are asked to answer when making your application. The answers will be used as a part of the selection process.
Please submit your application by 2 July 2026, UFV-PA 2026/2154.
Uppsala University is a broad research university with a strong international position. The ultimate goal is to conduct education and research of the highest quality and relevance to make a difference in society. Our most important asset is all of our 7,600 employees and 53,000 students who, with curiosity and commitment, make Uppsala University one of Sweden’s most exciting workplaces. Read more about our benefits and what it is like to work at Uppsala Universityhttps://uu.se/om-uu/jobba-hos-oss/ The position may be subject to security vetting. If security vetting is conducted, the applicant must pass the vetting process to be eligible for employment. Please do not send offers of recruitment or advertising services. Submit your application through Uppsala University's recruitment system.
Anställningsform: tidsbegränsad anställning | Anställningens omfattning: heltid | Antal lediga befattningar: 1 | Sysselsättningsgrad: 100 | Ort: Uppsala | Län: Uppsala län | Land: Sweden | Referensnummer: UFV-PA 2026/2154 | Publicerat: 2026-06-18 | Sista ansökningsdag: 2026-07-02
