Computational and Evolutionary Biology
Welcome to CEB's webpages
We are a department-sized grouping of researchers in Life Sciences who use a wide range of techniques from computational to whole organism experimental approaches in our pursuit of understanding biological systems. A main theme of our research is the use of an evolutionary perspective to inform and predict the behaviour of biological systems. If you have any questions about the research we do, are interested in scientific collaborations or education/training opportunities in Manchester please contact us.
Research group leader: Prof David Robertson
Behavioural Evolution and Ecology
Research in this theme focuses on fundamental questions covering a range of key topics from sexual selection, behavioural genetics and epigenetics, signalling and communication to the evolution of sociality and coevolution. We study animal behaviour and ecology in the lab and the field as well as using computational and modelling approaches. Much of our research overlaps with interests in conservation biology, genetics and physiology and is supported by state of the art facilities.
+ / - PIs in this research theme
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Matthew Cobb
- Evolutionary genetics: behaviour genetics, olfaction and chemical communication
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Jonathan Codd
- Integrative Zoology: functional constraints on breathing and locomotion in vertebrates
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John Fitzpatrick
- Evolutionary biology and behavioural ecology: sexual selection and conservation
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Tucker Gilman
- Evolutionary theory and modelling: speciation, sexual selection, coevolution, aging
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Reinmar Hager
- Evolutionary biology and behavioural ecology
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Richard Preziosi
- Sustainability research: evolutionary, ecological and community genetics
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Bill Sellers
- Primatology: comparative anatomy, behaviour and biomechanics of primates
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Susanne Shultz
- Behavioural ecology: social and cognitive evolution
Computational Biology
This use of computers in biology has never been so important and, alongside continuing data representation and analysis, a major goal of computational biology is the in silico representation of dynamic biological systems. For example, at the cellular and molecular level, biological structures and functions are the product of complex interactions between proteins and other molecules. Using a systems biology approach, we are interested in exploiting evolutionary signals to study the nature of these interactions and how they change. We also develop software and host several databases; see our Bioinformatics page for more details.
+ / - PIs in this research theme
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Teresa Attwood
- Bioinformatics: protein sequence/family analysis & integrating interactive content with static documents
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Douda Bensasson
- Comparative genomics: ecological and evolutionary genomics of yeast
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Casey Bergman
- Comparative genomics: genome structure, function, evolution and in silico biology
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Andy Brass
- Bioinformatics: biohealth informatics and systems biology
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Rainer Breitling
- Systems biology: metabolomics, modelling, and synthetic biology
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Andrew Doig
- Proteomics: protein folding and drug design
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Sam Griffiths-Jones
- Functional RNA biology: computational biology of non-protein-coding RNAs
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Simon Hubbard
- Computational biology related to proteomics and genomics
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Simon Lovell
- Structural biology: protein structure and function, protein-protein interactions and the evolution of systems
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Magnus Rattray
- Computational and Systems Biology: Regulatory network inference, statistical analysis of high-throughput sequencing data, time-series data analysis, Bayesian parameter inference and model selection
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David Robertson
- Computational biology: genome and functional evolution of biological systems and pathogen/host interactions
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Alan Roseman
- Structural Biology using electron cryo-microscopy, and computational imaging techniques
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Jean-Marc Schwartz
- Pathways and biological systems modelling
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Bill Sellers
- Primatology: comparative anatomy, behaviour and biomechanics of primates
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Heather Vincent
- Bioinformatics: network biology and education
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Jim Warwicker
- Models for structural cell biology
Molecular Evolution and Genomics
In this theme we study genome evolution and its consequences at different levels of generality and over varying time-scales, often bringing together computational and experimental approaches. For example, specific research projects include: using evolutionary signals to understand the specificity of protein-protein interactions, comparing genomes from divergent species to identify probable non-coding RNAs (see the miRBase database), development of new bioinformatics software (e.g., phylogenetic methods), HIV-1 diversity and evolution, and large international genome projects, for example, the mouse and fruit fly.
+ / - PIs in this research theme
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Douda Bensasson
- Comparative genomics: ecological and evolutionary genomics of yeast
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Casey Bergman
- Comparative genomics: genome structure, function, evolution and in silico biology
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Terry Brown
- Biomolecular archaeology: the use of DNA to study the human past
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Daniela Delneri
- Functional genomics: genome-wide approaches to study fitness and speciation in yeast
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Sam Griffiths-Jones
- Functional RNA biology: computational biology of non-protein-coding RNAs
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Chris Knight
- Systems biology: connected molecular systems to biological phenotype
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Simon Lovell
- Structural biology: protein structure and function, protein-protein interactions and the evolution of systems
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David Robertson
- Computational biology: genome and functional evolution of biological systems and pathogen/host interactions.
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Matthew Ronshaugen
- Developmental Biology: the role of non-coding RNAs in morphological evolution
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Tokiharu Takahashi
- Developmental biology: evolution of vertebrates and the role of genome duplications
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Cathy Walton
- Evolutionary biology: molecular population genetics of mosquitoes and biodiversity in Southeast Asia
Organismal Biology
The underlying focus of this theme is understanding how structure and function relate through evolutionary processes. Our research interests cross over between field and laboratory-based studies and are focused on understanding how organisms work and interact with their environment. Specific research projects underway include comparative physiology and biomechanics, functional morphoplogy, the use of computer simulations to understand the movements of both living and fossil animals such as dinosaurs, the evolutionary genetics of social interactions and complex traits and the interplay between evolution and development.
+ / - PIs in this research theme
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Mike Buckley
- Molecular palaeontology: the use of fossil protein sequences to study relationships between extinct and extant taxa
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Jonathan Codd
- Integrative Zoology - functional constraints on breathing and locomotion in vertebrates
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Reinmar Hager
- Evolutionary biology and behavioural ecology
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Minsung Kim
- Developmental biology: evolution and genetic development of plant forms
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Chris Klingenberg
- Organismal biology: evolution of organismal form and its genetic and developmental basis
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Robert Nudds
- Comparative zoology: biomechanics, physiology and evolution of animal locomotion
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Richard Preziosi
- Sustainability research: evolutionary, ecological and community genetics.
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Jennifer Rowntree
- Evolutionary ecology: genetics of species interactions and ecosystem services, community genetics
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Rob Sansom
- Palaeobiology: phylogenetic impact of taphonomy and decay, origin and early evolution of vertebrates
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Bill Sellers
- Primatology: comparative anatomy, behaviour and biomechanics of primates
Pikaia fossil (Rob Sansom).
Fossil fish (Rob Sansom).
Decaying amphioxus (Rob Sansom).
Evolution of a population of aptamers (Will Rowe).
RNA-seq clusters (Will Rowe).
Rock ptarmigan in Svalbard (Jonathan Codd).
Fluorescence-tagged yeast competing to producing a colony (Dan Smith).
Phylogenetic tree inferred form 454 sequence data (John Archer).
Cheers to yeast biology research! (Jonathan Dickerson)
Screenshot from Utopia Documents software (Terri Attwood).
Visualisation of phylogenetic workflow usage (Jamie Eales).
HIV-1 V3 loops (Simon Lovell).
Yeast protein interaction network.
An emerging compound leaf primordium of Schefflera actinophylla (Minsung Kim).
Frog, Agalychnis moreletii, snapped on undergraduate field course to Belize (Richard Preziosi).
HIV-host protein interaction network (Jonathan Dickerson).
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PhD, postdoc and fellowships
We welcome applications for PhD and post-doctoral positions at any time. Advertised positions can be found on our PhD projects and the Faculty's Jobs page. We are also pleased to consider requests to host independent research fellowships (junior or senior), and we can offer advice and guidance in support of your application. Fellows routinely become permanent members of staff.
For enquiries, contact david.robertson@
manchester.ac.uk or the principal investigator closest to your research area.