Dr. Mozes P.K. Blom
Mozes, also known as ‘Moos’ (though not pronounced like the humongous deer!), did his PhD at the Australian National University under supervision of Prof. Craig Moritz. He is also a former graduate of the Erasmus Mundus MEME program in Evolutionary Biology during which he spend time at Uppsala University (Sweden), the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology Seewiesen (Germany) and Harvard University (USA). Following his dissertation work, he moved back to Sweden (can’t go without cinnamon rolls for too long!) for a postdoctoral project at the Swedish Museum of Natural History (Sweden). In his research, he focuses on natural study systems and utilises recently developed molecular techniques to infer the evolutionary history of species, populations and genes. In his free time he loves going on adventures with his favourite Greeky and 2x Dutch-Korean-Greek F1’s, and can often be found scouring Berlin for the best ramen place.

Postdocs
Opportunities
The Museum für Naturkunde is an exciting place to do your research, with state-of-the-art facilities for genomic studies in place and direct access to the museum’s world renowned collections. Moreover, Germany has a number of Postdoctoral fellowships for early career researchers (e.g. Humboldt and DFG Walter Benjamin program) and we are keen to chat about any possible collaborative projects.

PhD students
Filip Oskar Thörn (2020 – 2024)
Filip is doing a joint PhD project between the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm, under supervision of Dr. Martin Irestedt, and the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. His project investigates how introgression can be a driver and possible brake on macro-evolutionary change in Birds-of-Paradise. Filip’s research interests centre around population genomics, hybridisation and how such processes translate to conservation practices. In his free time, he enjoys being outdoors and to wander the the Swedish forests.

Sofía Hayden (2020 – 2023)
Sofía is currently doing her PhD Project at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, the city in which she also pursued her Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Master’s degree in Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution. Sofía is interested in understanding the evolutionary history of species and the processes involved, and is now focusing on climate change effects on population demography and ecological diversification of Cryptoblepharus skinks in Australia. In her free time, she loves going for a walk with her dog.

Mario Ernst (2021-2024)
Mario completed his Master’s at Stockholm University and did his degree project on avian population genomics at the Swedish Museum of Natural History. Now he is doing a PhD at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin under the joint supervision of PD Dr. Mark-Oliver Rödel and Dr. Mozes Blom. During his PhD, he studies West African leaf-litter frogs to identify regions of importance for the survival of forest-dependent species throughout periods of past climatic adversity. He is broadly interested in evolutionary questions and conservation research. Beyond his work, he is an avid climber and is always on the lookout for the next fieldwork opportunity.

Ingo Müller (2021-2025)
After obtaining his Bachelor and Master degree at LMU Munich, Ingo is now doing his PhD in Stockholm. His project is a joint collaboration between the Swedish Natural History Museum, the University of Copenhagen and the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. For his PhD  he  studies the biogeography and  hybridisation patterns in Pacific honeyeaters and Birds-of-Paradise. Ingo’s general interests are population genomics and the effects of environmental change on species and populations. During his free time, he enjoys hikes in mountains and forests, and the consumption of romantic and nerdy arts.

Opportunities
We are always keen to host new PhD students since they are really the ones that push our research into unexplored directions. The Museum für Naturkunde has an excellent infrastructure to accommodate a broad spectrum of research questions (e.g. wet-lab facilities, 3D imaging, HPC cluster) and provides additional support to develop personal research skills (conference attendance, workshop visits, etc.). Besides research, we all strongly value a good work/life balance and the city of Berlin is a vibrant, affordable and unique place to live. If interested, please do not hesitate to contact us and we can discuss common interest and possible funding opportunities (e.g. Elsa-Neumann or DAAD).

Master students

Opportunities
Recruiting stop for 2023 due to parental leave

Previous:
Yunqi “Emma” Song (2022)
Now PhD candidate at University of Toronto, Canada
Sophie Smith (2022)
Now PhD candidate at Museum Koenig Bonn, Germany
Saphira Schroers (2021 – 2022)
Mario Ernst (2019-2020)