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Join us

We are always interested in curious, motivated people who want to work at the meeting point of soil ecology, biodiversity and genomics. Whether you are a prospective student, a postdoc with your own ideas, or a partner lab, there is room in the investigation.

Who we are looking for

MSc & BSc students

Thesis and internship projects across the wet lab, the command line and the field. Many datasets are already generated, so several projects can start analysing from day one — and some can run fully in silico.

PhD candidates

We co-supervise doctoral projects through the University of Coimbra and partner institutions. If you have a question that fits our themes, we will help you shape it into a fundable proposal (FCT, Marie Skłodowska-Curie, and project-linked studentships).

Postdocs & visitors

Bring your own fellowship, or build one with us. We host visiting researchers and collaborate across the UK, Brazil and the EU — and we welcome co-applications for competitive funding.

What you will gain

  • A versatile, in-demand skill set — DNA/RNA extraction, PCR & qPCR, library prep and next-generation sequencing (Illumina & Oxford Nanopore), plus bioinformatics in R and on the Linux command line / HPC.
  • Real research questions on real data — from soil biodiversity and DNA metabarcoding to population and landscape genomics, on datasets that feed European soil-health policy.
  • An international network — work embedded in large EU consortia (BENCHMARKS, SYBERAC, GRASS4FUN and more) alongside partners across Europe and the Americas.
  • Field and bench and code — a rare chance to follow a question from a handful of soil all the way to the genome.

How to apply

  1. Read our Research Topics and recent Publications to find where your interests overlap with ours.
  2. Email ewormuc@gmail.com (cc luis.cunha@uc.pt) with a short note on what draws you to the lab, a CV, and — if you have one — a rough research idea. A paragraph is plenty to start.
  3. We will reply to discuss projects, supervision and the funding route that best fits your stage and timeline.
No open call posted right now? Get in touch anyway. Most positions here are built around the right person and a shared question — funding calls (FCT, Marie Curie, Erasmus, project grants) open throughout the year, and it helps to start the conversation early.

Find us

Environmental Genomics Lab (EnGeL) — Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456 Coimbra, Portugal.

Lab: ewormuc@gmail.com · PI: luis.cunha@uc.pt · cfe.uc.pt/environmental-genomics-lab