Postdoctoral Position in Biogeography of Sociality and Ant Macroecology University of Lausanne in Switzerland

University of Lausanne (UNIL) is advertising a postdoctoral position in biogeography of sociality within the Group of Prof. Cleo Bertelsmeier at the Department of Ecology and Evolution, Switzerland.

The project focuses on the evolution and macroecology of social traits in ants, including environmental drivers of sociality, climatic niches, and links between social organization and global distributions. The successful candidate will work with macroclimatic and emergent global microclimatic data to study species’ climatic niches and test how these relate to social traits. The team’s broader interests include macroecology, biological invasions, climate change, community ecology, and ant ecology.

This opportunity is aimed at candidates with a PhD in biogeography, quantitative ecology, or evolution, and strong skills in spatial analysis, phylogenetic comparative analysis, macroecology, climatic niche analysis, and diversity analyses. Experience with social insects, especially ants, is considered an advantage. The role also values curiosity, creativity, independence, motivation, teamwork, and strong communication skills.

The position is a 100% postdoctoral appointment for 1 year, renewable depending on funding availability. The post includes research as the main activity, plus teaching contributions and possible supervision of master students. The applicant must have received the PhD in the last 2 years or be about to obtain it very soon.

Deadline: 2026-06-22. Applications must be submitted online via the University of Lausanne recruitment platform and should include a cover letter, CV, PhD certificate, and the names of two or three referees.

Contact: Prof. Cleo Bertelsmeier, [email protected]. More information: Bertelsmeier group website.