CREAF is seeking a highly motivated predoctoral researcher for the SEA TO SUMMIT project (Integrating palaeoecology, phylogenetic diversity and genomics across elevational gradients in Macaronesia) with reference PID2025-174835NB-I00 funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y universidades, the Agencia Estatal de Investigación and Co-funded by European Union (MICIU /AEI /10.13039/501100011033)
Why do some plant species persist for thousands of years while others decline or disappear?
Answering this question can help us understand biodiversity responses to environmental change. Oceanic islands provide excellent study systems because their floras have evolved in isolation and have experienced both natural environmental variability and human-driven landscape transformation throughout the Holocene.
The SEA-TO-SUMMIT project combines fossil pollen records, phylogenetic diversity, and genomics to investigate the drivers of long-term plant persistence across Macaronesia, the biogeographic region comprising the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Cabo Verde, and the Savage Islands. Focusing on the Canary Islands and the Azores, the PhD project will reconstruct biodiversity change over the last 11,700 years and identify the ecological and evolutionary characteristics associated with plant persistence, decline, resilience, and vulnerability across environmental gradients.
This PhD offers an exciting opportunity to combine palaeoecology, biogeography, evolutionary ecology, and genomics to better understand how island floras evolve and respond to environmental change over millennial timescales.
The PhD candidate will investigate why some plant species persist for millennia whereas others decline or disappear under changing environmental conditions. Using Holocene fossil pollen records from the Canary Islands and Azores, the candidate will reconstruct long-term vegetation dynamics across elevational gradients, from coastal habitats to mountain ecosystems. The project will identify plant taxa that persisted, expanded, declined, disappeared, or reappeared through time and examine whether these trajectories are associated with particular ecological, phylogenetic, or genomic characteristics. By integrating fossil pollen data with modern biodiversity, traits, phylogenetic, and genomic information, the project will provide new insights into the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms underlying plant persistence and biodiversity change on oceanic islands.
Our lab (Temporal Ecology and Biogeography Lab) is part of the Global Ecology Unit at CREAF, where we foster an open, collaborative, and supportive research environment. Our supervision includes weekly lab meetings, regular one-to-one mentoring, and active participation in collaborative research. We encourage lab members to attend courses, seminars, workshops, and international conferences, supporting their scientific and professional development while helping them build strong international research networks.
The project also provides opportunities for international collaboration, research visits, conference participation, and interdisciplinary training.
The successful candidate will enrol in the PhD Programme in Terrestrial Ecology at UAB (www.uab.cat), a programme recognised for its academic excellence. CREAF also offers a well-established Career Development Service, coordinated by its Academic Talent Officer, to support researchers throughout their professional development. This includes bi-weekly research seminars (CREAF Talks), the CREAFuture training programme for PhD students, and dedicated career-development activities covering transferable skills, scientific communication, CV preparation, and interview techniques. In addition, PhD students benefit from the guidance of an independent thesis committee, which provides regular feedback and supports their academic progress throughout the doctoral programme.
A FPI full-time contract is offered (37.5 hours per week) with planned incorporation in January 2027* and It will last at least 48 months. The salary offered (gross) is established by the RD EPIF (Real Decreto 103/2019, de 1 de marzo, por el que se aprueba el Estatuto del personal investigador predoctoral en formación): with 75% of € 33.941,46** = € 25.456,15 each year.
*The start of the contract will depend on the final resolution of the project, not coming into force
until it’s resolved and it’s possible to allocate expenses to it.
**Salary from Group 1 (M3) of the salary table from the Convenio colectivo único para el personal laboral de la Administración General del Estado of 2024 (subject to possible salary increases when new salary amounts are approved).
For informal enquiries, please, contact PI grant: Sandra Nogué ([email protected])
CREAF’s main objective is to generate knowledge and create new methodological tools in the field of terrestrial ecology, with special emphasis on forest ecology, in order to improve environmental planning and management in rural and urban areas. This is achieved through:
Basic research. CREAF conducts first-class, innovative basic research and a centre of excellence at both national and international levels.
Applied research. CREAF also conducts applied research, especially in the field of forestry. This research contributes to the sustainable management and conservation of resources and ecosystems.
Development of methodological and conceptual tools. These tools are designed to facilitate decision-making and improve environmental management.
Transfer and diffusion of knowledge. CREAF transfer scientific and technological know-how through training courses, consultation and various types of publications.
