POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP IN BIOGEOGRAPHY AND MACROEVOLUTION OF VERTEBRATES Research Group: Biogeography and Evolution (Antonin Machac) Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague Web: https://machac.weebly.com Start date: January 2027 Why are some regions and climates megadiverse (e.g. tropical rainforests) while others are species-poor (e.g. deserts)? This classic question has fascinated biologists for decades, yet it remains largely unresolved. The Fellow will investigate biodiversity patterns in tetrapod vertebrates (~35,000 species of mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles). The research will integrate phylogenies, geographic distributions and functional traits to study diversity patterns within geographic and climatic space. The Fellow will examine how the effects of time available for species accumulation, diversification rates, and energy limits together generate species diversity. The results will reveal how diversity patterns and their drivers change across regions, clades and scales. This knowledge is central to evolutionary theory and for predicting and conserving biodiversity. *** WHAT THE POSITION OFFERS SCIENTIFICALLY - Vertebrate dataset that is ready to use (phylogenies, maps, traits). The candidate can start analyzing from the first month. - High-quality publications within 12 months. For multiple pre-defined themes, preliminary results and scripts already exist. The Fellow can therefore realistically complete one or two manuscripts within the contract, as the first author, and will be invited to team manuscripts as well. - The position is funded by a research grant that defines several themes. The candidate can choose their preferred theme and tailor it to their own interests. - Room for both safe and ambitious work. The pre-defined themes give secure outputs. The independent part allows a high-risk, high-reward project. - Conferences and travel budget. The Fellow has a dedicated budget for international conferences, collaborator visits, and publication fees. The Fellow will work with our partners at ETH Zurich, SBiK-F Frankfurt, UBC Vancouver and CMEC Copenhagen, and locally with David Storch, Petr Kohout and Petr Baldrian. *** REQUIREMENTS - PhD in Ecology, Evolution, Zoology or a related field, completed by the start date - Experience with statistics and R programming - Good publication record, good spoken and written English - Motivation for research at the interface of ecology, evolution and statistics Desirable, not required: - Experience with phylogeny-based research (phylogenetic comparative methods, diversification analyses), with spatial analysis, geographic information systems (GIS) *** WE OFFER - An international team and a workplace near the historical center of Prague - Salary that supports a comfortable life in Prague (twice the standard postdoc base salary at the Academy of Sciences) - Fully covered health insurance and six weeks of paid holiday - Social fund benefits: meal allowance, Cafeterie, MultiSport - Pension contribution, childcare and recreation support - Courses for professional development, free language courses - Open to applicants from outside the EU. The Institute's Welcome Office supports visa and work-permit applications and helps with relocation, housing and registration. *** START DATE The position is for 12 MONTHS, with the possibility of extension. The start date is negotiable, ideally JANUARY 2027. *** HOW TO APPLY Please submit your CV, one-page motivation letter, and two contacts of reference to Antonin Machac (A.Machac@email.cz). The subject line of your email should state "Postdoctoral Fellow 2026". If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. Please apply before November 8th, 2026. Review of the submitted applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position has been filled, so we encourage you not to wait until the deadline. We can hire up to two postdocs, if strong candidates emerge. Once the position has been filled, the advertisement will be taken off the lab website (https://machac.weebly.com), where you can also find more information. Dr. Antonin Machac Research Group in Evolution and Biogeography of Vertebrates Institute of Microbiology, Videnska 1083, Prague, CZ Email: A.Machac@email.cz Lab website: https://machac.weebly.com (to manage your EvolDir subscription: https://evoldir.net/django/subscriptions/manage/)