12/2026 PhD student (f/m/d)

Stellenbeschreibung:

Vacancy

Our Mission: Discovering and describing life and earth - with people, through dialogue.

The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (MfN) is an excellent and integrated research museum of the Leibniz Association with an international reputation and globally networked research infrastructure. It is active in three closely interlinked fields: collection-based research, collection development and cataloguing, and research-based public and educational work. Over the next ten years, the Museum für Naturkunde will realise its plan for the future. New laboratories and jobs for cutting-edge research will be created. At the same time, one of the world's most comprehensive natural history collections with over 30 million objects will be housed in modern collection buildings and completely digitised in the process. The implementation of the Future Plan, funded with a total of 660 million euros from the Federal Government and the State of Berlin, will only succeed with strong interdisciplinary national and international partners.

Position: PhD student (f/m/d)
Work schedule: 65% of the regular weekly working hours
Duration: at the earliest possible date; third-party funding until 30 April 2029
Salary Level: E 13 TV-L
Code: 12/2026

Project Description

Human activities are a major driver of biodiversity loss, with many species facing extinction due to habitat destruction, pollution, climate change or overexploitation. North American Peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) are one of the most well-known examples of 20th century population decline, due to environmental pollution, but their populations have largely recovered following a ban on specific pesticides and major captive breeding and release efforts. In this PhD project, we will track changes in the genetic diversity of North American Peregrine falcon populations throughout the 20th century using a temporal genomics approach. We will use both historical and contemporary specimens to investigate how population decline and conservation efforts have shaped the genome composition of extant populations and quantify to what extent the genetic diversity of pre-1900 is still represented in current populations. Moreover, we will also explore avenues to improve our ability to obtain high-quality DNA from museum specimens by critically revising state-of-the-art sampling methods. This research is embedded within the BirdMORE project and funded by the Leibniz Junior Research Group program. The overarching theme of BirdMORE is to further unlock the potential of Natural History Collections to study population and genomic change over long and short evolutionary timescales.

Your tasks

Compare historical and modern North American peregrine falcon populations using museomic data
Assemble high-quality reference genomes from modern tissue samples and generate whole-genome resequencing data of avian skins
Track changes in genome composition over a 100-year period
Revise wet-lab protocols to improve the quality and yield of high-quality DNA from historical specimens
Presentation of scientific results at international conferences
Publication of peer reviewed papers in high-ranking international scientific journals

Your profile

University degree (Master of Science or equivalent degree) in biological sciences or bioinformatics
Experience with population genomic and population genetic research
Deep understanding of Evolutionary Biology
Experience or interest in learning lab work (e.g. DNA extractions and library preparations)
Research experience with genomic data
Research experience or interest in demographic modelling (e.g. mprime, ABC or RELATE)
Research experience or interest in de novo genome assembly using PacBio HiFi data
Familiar with R, Python or other coding languages
Interdisciplinary communication skills and intercultural competence
Excellent knowledge of English (spoken and written)

We offer you

Exciting working environment in an attractive research museum with varied tasks in a dynamic and future-orientated market
Very good public transport connections in the centre of Berlin
Extensive further training opportunities on a personal and professional level
Flexible working hours and a wide range of options for balancing work and family life (e.g. flexi-time or individual part-time models)
Depending on the job, mobile working is possible for up to 60 percent of individual working hours
Remuneration according to TV-L with company pension scheme (VBL), special annual payment and capital-forming benefits
Employer subsidy for the “VBB Firmenticket” (company ticket) or “Deutschlandticket Job” (Germany ticket job)
Employee events, company health management and German and English language courses
30 days' holiday plus 24 December and 31 December off

Special Notes

In support of equal rights applications from qualified women are particularly welcome. Handicapped individuals will be given preference in cases of identical qualifications.