Master's theses

Master students and interns

If you are interested in evolutionary mechanisms governing plant diversity and want to develop your skills in plant biosystematics, population genomics and/or ecological experiments, then we may have a project for you! Just contact Filip if you find our research interesting and would like to discuss opportunities for a Master project and/or Internship.

Offered topics of student works

What experiences can you get with us:

  • interdisciplinary work at the border of ecology, evolutionary biology and population genomics

  • the ability to combine modern experimental approaches with analyzes of large sequencing data

  • research on hitherto neglected wild relatives of the main model of plant genetics, Arabidopsis

  • work in a young international team

  • general language, field and analytical flexibility advantageous even outside the area of basic research

  • the possibility of contact with scientists from various foreign workplaces as part of research internships


ERC and STARS projects

Current topics

(the list is not complete and other alternatives can be negotiated)

Mechanisms of adaptation in natural populations of Arabidopsis

Although Arabidopsis thaliana is a major model of plant biology, we still know little about the biology of its closest relatives. The work will be focused on summarizing the latest findings on the adaptation of wild caterpillar populations and methods of their study. The bachelor's thesis can be followed by a master's project focused on experimental (transplantation experiments, experimental cultivation in growth chambers) and population-genomic (detection of selection and other processes from whole-genomic sequence data) research on natural populations of Arabidopsis.

Speciation barriers between plants - what role does whole genome duplication play?

Although the multiplication of the whole genome, polyploidization, is one of the main processes of speciation in plants, we still know very little about the mechanisms behind this ploidy barrier. We do not know how strong the barrier is in different species or whether the main mechanisms preventing interbreeding occur before (especially ecological processes) or after (physiological processes) fertilization. The bachelor's thesis will aim to summarize new findings in this dynamically developing field of plant biology. This thesis can then be directly followed by a master's project, combining field, experimental (hybridization experiments, modern microscopic techniques) and population genetic and genomic methods.