PhD fellowship in Palaeoproteomics and Palaeoanthropology

The University of Paris invites applications for a PhD fellowship in Palaeoproteomics and Palaeoanthropology, starting October 1st 2020, or as soon as possible thereafter. The PhD topic is "3D Morphological and molecular-based phylogeny of Homo erectus". The fellowship is part of the European Training Network (ETN) PUSHH: “Palaeoproteomics to Unleash Studies on Human History”, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement N° 861389. The Early Stage Researcher (ESR4) involved in this project will investigate a set of hominid specimens currently attributed to Homo erectus, Meganthropus and Pongo using the analysis of tooth internal structure, to test the validity of their taxonomic assignment. A number of Early to Middle Pleistocene isolated teeth from Indonesia and China whose taxonomic attribution is still unclear will also be revised. The results of this morphometrical approach will be compared with those obtained from molecular analyses based on the same specimens. In case DNA is not preserved anymore, the samples will be deep-sequenced to maximise the dental enamel palaeoproteome sequence recovered and to enable confident phylogenetic assignment (Homo erectus or other hominine species). The ESR will also have the opportunity to collaborate with the other fellows in the PUSHH network and especially within ESR3 based at the University of Copenhagen. More information can be found in the following webpages: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/535640 https://babelanthropo.cnrs.fr/emploi/esr4-pushh/