Project description
How environmental transitions shape evolutionary change
Understanding how ecological factors drive evolutionary change is essential for conserving wild populations. It is unclear whether these changes are sped up or slowed down by successive ecological shifts. The parallel colonisation of new environments may provide insights. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the GenesCrossRealms project is investigating how environmental transitions shape evolutionary change in isopod crustaceans of the subfamily Trichoniscinae. It will focus on surface-to-subterranean and terrestrial-to-aquatic transitions, and examine their links to phenotypic and genomic variation. The project will also identify convergent traits and genomic regions in populations from different environments, model the evolution of ecological traits, and assess hybridisation among species.
Objective
Understanding evolutionary change driven by ecological factors is of the utmost importance for conserving and managing wild populations in a changing world. In particular, it is not clear whether evolutionary changes are facilitated or decelerated when organisms encounter a series of subsequent ecological changes. Parallel colonisation of novel environments can be considered a natural experiment providing an answer to these questions. I will assess the association between multiple environmental transitions and evolutionary change using isopod crustaceans of the subfamily Trichoniscinae as a model system. I will explore whether two major environmental transitions, i.e. surface to subterranean and terrestrial to aquatic, are predictably associated with phenotype and genome variation and whether subsequent transitions across major environmental barriers facilitate evolutionary change. To this end, I will identify convergent phenotypes and genomic regions in Trichoniscinae living in surface, subterranean, terrestrial, and aquatic environments, model the evolution of species' ecology, and quantify the degree of hybridization among species. The GenesCrossRealms will model evolution of ecological and morphological traits, and combine it within a transcriptomic-bioinformatic framework. To achieve these goals, I will carry out my research at the University of Ljubljana, guided by Dr. Cene Fišer, an expert in subterranean biology and macroevolution, and Dr. Hans Recknagel, bioniformatician and scholar of convergent evolution. Their skills are compatible with my knowledge on model system and will result in synergies that will improve our understanding of origin and evolution of subterranean biodiversity as well as broader perspective on adaptive evolution in a changing world. This project will equip me with the necessary skills and experience to develop my academic profile, secure advanced funding, stabilize my academic position and ultimately establish my own research group.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
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