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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

Société d'Anthropologie de Paris (SAP) @sapanthropologie.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

3-year #PhDposition at the @univie.ac.at within the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology to work on #ancientpathogen #aDNA! The starting date of the position is flexible, with a latest possible start in mid‑December 2026

FWF FUNDED 3-YEAR PHD POSITION IN MICROBIAL
PALAEOGENOMICS OF HUMAN PATHOGENS (ANCIENT DNA)
We invite applications for a fully funded 3‑year PhD position in Microbial Palaeogenomics
within the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna . The successful
candidate will conduct palaeogenomic research within the project “ Surviving into Adulthood ”
funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) under the supervision of the principal investigator
Meriam Guellil. Core of the project will be the study of microbial pathogens from ancient DNA.
The doctoral project will encompass:
● Processing of osteological material within the dedicated ancient DNA laboratory at the
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (from sampling to library building and target
enrichment).
● Sequencing and metagenomic screening of aDNA genomic libraries for the presence of
pathogenic microbial organisms.
● Phylogenomic and evolutionary analysis of microbial genomes reconstructed from aDNA.
● Multidisciplinary synthesis of gained data within the wider spatio-temporal and cultural
context of sampled populations and the project.
Candidate requirements:
The successful candidate must have acquired a master's degree in a relevant field (Microbiology,
Biological Anthropology, Chemistry, Bioinformatics, etc.) by the start of the position and ideally
has experience working with ancient DNA or within the multidisciplinary framework of
bioarchaeology. They need to be willing to work in the laboratory; prior experience is a plus,
although training will be provided. Experience in bioinformatics and NGS data is desired and
basic command-line knowledge is required. Excellent written and spoken English is necessary.
The candidate is expected to be able to perform independent research following initial …

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Meriam Guellil PhD @meriamguellil.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I am opening a PhD position at the University of Vienna to work with me on ancient pathogen aDNA 🦠🧬 Please help spread the word to any relevant candidates or contact me if you are interested! Join us here in Vienna!

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

marcelkeller.bsky.social @marcelkeller.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Our paper on the second plague pandemic is now finally published: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... We present 11 new Y. pestis genomes from around Europe and introduce a new approach to refine the dating of ancient genomes that helped us to contextualize 75 plague genomes of the Second Pandemic.

Schematic workflow showing the Phylogenetically Informed Radiocarbon Modeling

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

HEAS @heasvienna.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

New Publication! New article by #HEASVienna member @meriamguellil.bsky.social et al. on 'A refined phylochronology of the second plague pandemic in Western Eurasia' #HEASPublications www.heas.at/research/pub...

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

Universität Wien / University of Vienna @univie.ac.at · 05/01/2026

Bahnbrechende Entdeckung: 2.000 Jahre alte Herpesviren im menschlichen Genom 🧬🦠 Genomdaten bestätigen, dass bestimmte humane Herpesviren bereits vor tausenden Jahren Teil des menschlichen Genoms wurden. 🔬 Mehr dazu: ⤵️ www.univie.ac.at/aktuelles/pr...

univie.ac.at

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

Charlotte Houldcroft @virologyhouldcroft.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

I hope that other researchers will now go back through their ancient genomes and find more carriers of integrated HHV6 viruses, as this is the first peek at an exciting global story.

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

Charlotte Houldcroft @virologyhouldcroft.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

It's tough to do molecular clock estimates on how fast these viruses mutate, because they can switch back and forth between evolving at the human mutation rate (relatively slow) and their own viral mutation rate (faster). Ancient DNA can currently only give us minimum ages for these viruses.

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

Charlotte Houldcroft @virologyhouldcroft.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

These viruses infect ~70% of adults, but between 0.5-3.5% of people worldwide actually have a 6A or B virus *in their genome*, hiding in a telomere, inherited from an ancient ancestor. We can see these ancient integration events were already present in Europe hundreds of years ago - minimum.

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

Charlotte Houldcroft @virologyhouldcroft.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... It's finally out! Meriam Guellil expertly led this project from the first HHV6 detection to the final paper. We found both human herpesviruses 6A and 6B in ancient remains going back 2500 years.

science.org

Tracing 2500 years of human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B diversity through ancient DNA

First ancient HHV-6 genomes reveal 2500 years of phylogenetic continuity and provide insights into the endogenization of HHV-6A.

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

Lucy van Dorp @lucyvandorp.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

This work is likely just the start of better understanding the deep history and spatio-temporal dynamics of these importance viruses. Great to play a role in this work, led from initial screening to final paper by Meriam Guellil @univie.ac.at.

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

Lucy van Dorp @lucyvandorp.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

There are likely many more HHV-6A/HHV-6B to be found in ancient human genomes to further support direct calibration of the age of integrated viral clades and acquired HHV infections.

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

Lucy van Dorp @lucyvandorp.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

Ancient genomes show that these viruses have been co-evolving with human populations across Europe, dating from early Italy to medieval England, Belgium, and Russia; underscoring a deep, ongoing host-virus history.

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

Lucy van Dorp @lucyvandorp.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

Through screening of ~4,000 archaeological human samples, this work reconstructed 11 ancient genomes of HHV-6A and HHV-6B. These viruses still infect many of us today.

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

Lucy van Dorp @lucyvandorp.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

New paper out in Science Advances: Tracing 2500 years of human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B diversity through ancient DNA 👉 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

science.org

Tracing 2500 years of human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B diversity through ancient DNA

First ancient HHV-6 genomes reveal 2500 years of phylogenetic continuity and provide insights into the endogenization of HHV-6A.

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

Maarten Larmuseau @maartenlarmuseau.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Discover our results of the largest ancient DNA study ever conducted on a single burial site: 400 skeletons from the Belgian city Sint-Truiden (8th–18th century). A unique glimpse into 1000 years of genetic history. (1/9) @kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

Österreichischer Wissenschaftsfonds FWF @fwf-at.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Forschende wollen mehr über die Evolution von Viren, die von Tieren auf Menschen überspringen, herausfinden. Sie konzentrierten sich auf Museumsobjekte von #Menschenaffen, denn bei ihnen ist die Wahrscheinlichkeit von #Zoonosen hoch. @univie.ac.at 🐒 scilog.fwf.ac.at/magazin/die-...

scilog.fwf.ac.at

Die Jagd nach alten Viren im Museum

Forschende um Michael Kuhlwilm wollen mehr über die Evolution von Viren, die von Tieren auf Menschen überspringen können, herausfinden und haben sich in naturhistorischen Sammlungen von Museen umgeseh...

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

ISBA11 Turin @isba11.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

You asked and we listened! The ISBA11 abstract submission deadline is extended to January 31st! Submit your abstract before time runs out! www.isba11.com/abstract-sub... #archaeology #biomoleculararchaeology #ISBA #ISBA11 #archaeologists @isbarchaeology.bsky.social @archaeobiomics.bsky.social

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

Pere Gelabert @peregx9.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

Are you trying to recover Plasmodium from ancient teeth? Negative results? Here we show that a denser samplig could yield positive results. Great work of Aejandro and Michelle!! @heasvienna.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

Intra-individual variability in ancient plasmodium DNA recovery highlights need for enhanced sampling - Scientific Reports

Scientific Reports - Intra-individual variability in ancient plasmodium DNA recovery highlights need for enhanced sampling

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

HEAS @heasvienna.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

We have put together a Starter Pack to connect you with #HEASVienna members and partner institutions who are now on Bluesky. Please feel free to share! go.bsky.app/5WNwafC

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Reposted by Meriam Guellil PhD

Pere Gelabert @peregx9.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

2 fully funded 4-years PhD positions at my group at the fantastic Department of Evolutionary Anthropology in Vienna!! @univie.ac.at to start in February 2025 (or as soon as possible). The students will work on ERC SHADOWS project 🦊🐶🐺😀. PhD 1 on sedaDNA, PhD 2 on Megafauna genomics 🦁🐅🪨⚒️

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