PhD position – How did climate shape the movements, interactions, and evolution of hominin populations?

Submitted: 04/24/2026
Submitted By: Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias
Department: Human Origins Cluster of Excellence
Institution: University of Tübingen
Job type: Full time
Apply by: 06/07/2026
Application Email: cecilia.padilla-iglesias@uni-tuebingen.de
Application URL:

The Genotype-Phenotype Evolution in Space (GPS) Lab, led by Dr Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias, is seeking a PhD candidate to investigate one of the central questions in human evolution: how past climate shaped the distribution, dynamics, and interactions of hominin populations, and how these processes contributed to the origins and diversity of Homo sapiens.

Understanding human origins requires understanding population dynamics. During the Middle and Late Pleistocene, multiple hominin groups inhabited Eurasia and may have interacted with one another and, eventually, with H. sapiens populations dispersing out of Africa. Yet, key questions remain unresolved: how were these populations related, where and when did they interact, and how did climate shape the extent and consequences of these interactions?

In this project, we will combine population genetics, species distribution models, and palaeoclimate reconstructions to build models of past human population dynamics. The aim is to reconstruct how climatic changes influenced the movements, persistence, and interactions of different human groups from the Middle Pleistocene onwards, and how these processes contributed to the exceptional range of H. sapiens, the disappearance of other lineages, and present-day human diversity.

Type of work
The student will use climate-informed spatial genetic models (see Padilla-Iglesias et al. 2025), a framework that integrates ecological, genetic, and climatic data to study responses to past environmental change. The project is primarily computational and involves training across several disciplines. The student will work closely with a group of students and postdocs developing quantitative tools for ecological and evolutionary questions, with scope to incorporate morphological, isotopic and archaeological data depending on the student’s interests and the direction the project takes.

What we look for
Applicants should have a strong interest in human evolution, proficiency in R, some experience with bioinformatics or population genetic data, and enthusiasm for interdisciplinary, quantitative work. Experience in archaeology, anthropology, or evolutionary biology is desirable, but candidates from related backgrounds are also encouraged to apply. We are looking for a curious, proactive, and intellectually independent candidate who is excited to make the project their own and bring their own questions and ideas to it.

What we offer
We offer a 3-year fully funded PhD position (E13, 65%) within the Human Origins Cluster of Excellence at the University of Tübingen.

The successful candidate will join a highly international and interdisciplinary research environment, with outstanding opportunities for collaboration across genetics, palaeoanthropology, cultural evolution, and biomolecular archaeology. The project will be supervised by Dr Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias, in close collaboration with Prof Cosimo Posth at the Archaeo- and Paleogenetics Group at the University of Tübingen and Prof Andrea Manica and the Evolutionary Ecology Group at the University of Cambridge.
The student will benefit from close supervision and mentoring, weekly coding sessions with the Evolutionary Ecology Group in Cambridge, and opportunities to develop strong coding and quantitative skills in R and potentially other languages. There will also be opportunities to engage in collaborative projects and, potentially, to take part in anthropological fieldwork in Africa.
Tübingen is a vibrant university town with a strong international research community and an outstanding environment for doctoral training.

How to apply
Please send a single PDF to Dr Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias by the 7th of June 2026 at cecilia.padilla-iglesias@uni-tuebingen.de including:
• a letter of motivation, including information on previous scientific work and publications, if available
• a CV with a complete listing of academic certificates and credentials
• contact details for two referees
• if available, a copy of your Master’s thesis

Informal inquiries are also very welcome. If this type of work sounds interesting to you, feel free to get in touch by email before applying.

Reference
Padilla-Iglesias, C., Xue, Z., Leonardi, M., Paijmans, J. L., Colucci, M., Hovhannisyan, A., … & Manica, A. (2025). Pan-African metapopulation model explains Homo sapiens genetic and morphological evolution. bioRxiv.