Update, Apr 8 2013: this position has been filled.

A postdoctoral research position is available immediately in the Ree Lab at the Field Museum in Chicago, IL, for a period of up to 2.5 years. This position is part of the Open Tree of Life project (www.opentreeoflife.org), an NSF-funded collaborative initiative to assemble a “first-draft” phylogeny of all known species and catalyze ongoing synthesis of phylogenetic knowledge. The researcher’s primary responsibility will be to contribute original research toward answering the question, “how can we build maximally comprehensive and accurate phylogenies from published results of systematic studies?”

The researcher will also be expected to participate in collaborative software development with the aim of producing free and open source bioinformatic tools and infrastructure to enable synthesis: see http://github.com/opentreeoflife.

The ideal candidate will be experienced in systematics/phylogenetic methods and proficient in (or willing to learn) programming, e.g. in Python, C/C++, Java, and/or R (in that order of preference). She or he will also be energetic, enthusiastic, able to think creatively, and able to work collaboratively.

For further information or to apply, send an e-mail cover letter with the names and e-mail addresses of two references, and a current CV, to Richard Ree (rree at fieldmuseum dot org).