Applications are welcome for a 18 month postdoctoral position in the project “GONDWANDIV: Contrasting evolutionary dynamics in the tropics: splendid isolation vs. magnificent desolation in the Neotropical and Afrotropical floras” at the Real Jardín Botánico (RJB), CSIC. 
Project description: Tropical regions worldwide, including the Neotropics, the Afrotropics, and tropical East Asia, stand out as global biodiversity centers, harboring half of all known species (and 45% of vascular plants) found in these areas. However, this diversity is not uniformly distributed across tropical regions. A marked difference in plant species richness exists between Africa and South America, which is surprising, given that their contemporary floras derive from a common West Gondwanan paleoflora. Despite a growing body of synthetic evolutionary studies, the historical causes of the uneven diversity in the tropics remain unresolved, fueled by knowledge gaps in alpha taxonomy, phylogenetic reconstructions, and species distribution ranges. This is particularly true for the African flora, although some regions of the Neotropics remain to be further explored. GONDWANDIV will address these questions by synthetizing phylogenetic information through a large-scale comparative analysis of Neotropical and Afrotropical clades. This will provide a framework for assessing the relative roles of macroevolutionary processes, including speciation, extinction, and dispersal, in shaping regional patterns of biome assembly, and, more broadly, for understanding the uneven distribution of biological diversity across the tropical belt. 
Job functions: The candidate will be working with an already existing database of > 200 angiosperm phylogenies and associate geographic information. The candidate will be expected to: 
Complete and expand the database of dated phylogenies from published studies, with a special focus on increasing the coverage of Afrotropical clades. 
Perform biogeographic analyses on multiple clades to estimate the main biogeographic routes for plant dispersal between the tropics. 
Infer diversification dynamics (speciation and extinction rates) of multiple clades to estimate the main evolutionary processes mediating biome construction using birth-death models and novel deep learning (neural network) approaches. 
Required qualifications: We are looking for a proactive and independent researcher holding a PhD degree, with strong evolutionary biology background and: 
Proficiency in programing (R/python) would be a distinct advantage. 
Experience with phylogenetic comparative approaches. 
Notions on historical biogeographic methods (e.g. DEC, RevBayes, BEAST) 
Notions on macroevolutionary modelling (birth-death models) 
Experience in manuscript preparation and presentation skills. 
Experience in handling large phylogenetic and ecological databases would also be an asset. 
Salary/Conditions: The candidate will join a young and dynamic research team at the Real Jardín Botánico (RJB) of Madrid, in the CSIC. Per month gross salary will be around 2200€. The candidate shall be in possession of a graduate degree from a Spanish university, or proof of having applied for recognition of a foreign degree to the Spanish Ministry of Education at the time of recruitment. 
Interested parties: send an email to Andrea S. Meseguer (ameseguer@rjb.csic.es) and/or Isabel Sanmartín (isanmartin@rjb.csic.es) with the CV attached, explaining in the body of the email how you fit into the activities to be developed considering your skills, experience and published research. Applicants must provide two reference persons to contact as well. Interested candidates must send the email by 30/05/2026. Candidates will be invited for an interview based on the information received by email. The starting date will be in autumn 2026.

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