Postdoctoral Researcher, Leverhulme a-DNA

We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website.

Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things. We employ 1100 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.

Diversity and inclusion matter to us. Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment. We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.

A Leverhulme funded PDRA position is available for 3 years working on “Human-dog co-evolution as a driver of behaviour change in the Upper Palaeolithic” with PI Dr Selina Brace at the NHM London. This is a biomolecular based research project that will generate aDNA and isotope data to analyse canid specimens alongside existing human genetic, archaeological and environmental data.

A key factor driving the evolution of human behaviour was the domestication of plant and animal species. However, the impact of the very first domestication, that of the dog (Canis familiaris), on human behaviour and culture in prehistory has been less well studied. This research aims to fill these gaps in our knowledge and explore the dispersal and population history of dogs and wolves across Western Eurasia during the Upper Palaeolithic and uncover the role dogs played in human dispersal during the Palaeolithic. It will also be investigating diet and funerary treatment of dogs, identifying shared population histories, co-locality and co-mobility between dogs and humans.

We are seeking an enthusiastic Postdoctoral Researcher who holds a PhD including working with ancient DNA. Work experience in an a-DNA lab using aDNA extraction and library building methods for NGS sequencing is essential. Experience in the application of custom bioinformatics pipelines for the computational analyses of degraded genomic data, using programs relevant for phylogenetic and nuclear DNA population level analyses are also required. Your role will also include the interpretation of isotopic data and developing species-distribution models and agent based modelling.

You will be working as part of a team led by Dr Brace where it will be expected that you will have excellent communication skills in English (both verbal and written). As this is a time-bound post you will need to work at pace and respect fixed deadlines that come with grant-funded research.

We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum’s values and forms the framework for the way we work.

What we offer:

• 27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (full time equivalent)
• Generous defined contribution Natural History Museum Pension Scheme (employer contribution 4 - 10%)
• Season ticket, bicycle and rental loan
• Life insurance
• Free admission to our exhibitions and many other paid exhibitions at museums, galleries and institutions across London and the UK.
• Staff discount at our Museum shops and cafes
• We offer a wide variety of training initiatives and opportunities to build skills. Investing in staff development is important to us, and we are ambitious about helping staff to grow and fulfil their potential.
• Affordable membership to the Civil Service Sports Council which offers a range of benefits including an extensive list of special offers and reduced entry fees at a selection of cinema chains, theme parks, theatres, retailers and supermarkets. It also provides entry to up to 300 English Heritage sites and other national treasures.
• Membership to our Sports and Social Association (for a small fee), which includes access to our in-house gym and clubs such as football, softball, table tennis and tennis and classes in Middle Eastern dance, yoga and Tai Chi.

We are working towards a vision where both people and planet thrive, and nothing gives a greater connection with this, than seeing first-hand, the visitors, scientific research and collections that all of our work is inspired by and working side by side with the teams delivering the visitor experience and events. We also recognise the benefits and flexibility that hybrid working brings. We operate a hybrid working model that requires regular, weekly attendance for this role, with the precise pattern of days on site and worked from home to be agreed with your manager.

If this sounds like you, please apply below by clicking on Apply for job. Please note that as part of our commitment to anonymised shortlisting, panels do not view CVs during the recruitment process. If you choose to upload your CV, our system will automatically pull information from your CV into our application form. We advise you to double-check your application form data before submitting as the tool may interpret CVs differently.

Closing date: 16 June 2026 at 23:59. Panel interviews expected: w/c 7 July 2026.

Please note that this role qualifies for Museum sponsorship. Whilst we would still expect the successful postholder to have valid right to work in the UK at the point of starting the role, the Museum can support in obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for this role to apply for future or continued right to work in the UK. Please contact our Recruitment Team at hrteam@nhm.ac.uk if you have any further queries regarding this.