Pursuant to § 7 sections 1 and 3 of Resolution No. 91/IX/2021 of the Senate of the Jagiellonian University of 29 September 2021 on the rules of recruitment for the Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences at the Jagiellonian University in the academic year 2022/2023, the Director of the Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences announces a competition for 1 doctoral student with a scholarship financed from the Ministry of Education and Science funds as part of the 4-year Biology PhD programme.

Within the Ministry of Education and Science titled "Implementation Doctorate" awarded in the competition of the 6th edition of the "Implementation doctorate" program entitled „Increasing the ability to predict facial and craniofacial appearance features in forensic and anthropological studies through genomic solutions”, a commission accepted by the Director of the Doctoral School will conduct recruitment for the 4-year Biology PhD study programme.

After the interviews and the evaluation of the candidates, the Chairman of the committee presents a report to the Director containing a list of candidates recommended for admission to the school as part of the research project.

Project description:

The development of methods for reconstructing a person's appearance is one of the important research areas in forensic genetics. Such a portrait reconstructed on the basis of genetic data can give investigative authorities objective information (unburdened by the error of witness accounts), enabling them to more quickly arrest the perpetrator. The goal of the project is to develop a predictive tool to genetically verify the memory portrait of the perpetrator of a criminal case, and to improve the accuracy of the reconstructed living facial appearance in identification studies. Anthropological and genetic studies show that features of a person's physical appearance, particularly facial and skull traits, are highly heritable. We assume that the phenotypic data (including 3D facial scans) and genetic (DNA microarray) data we have will enable us to verify existing and develop new advanced predictive algorithms. As a result, the use of genomic tools will allow us to reliably characterize broad facial and craniofacial appearance traits in order to verify the memory portrait developed for investigative purposes and assist in the process of reconstructing the living appearance of a person whose skull is subject to identification. The project involves the novel use of whole-genome sequencing methods for the prediction of facial and skull appearance from genetic data. This approach will reduce prediction errors and enable increased capabilities for analyzing forensic samples. As a result, we will minimize the risk of errors encountered in creating memory portraits of individuals using witness accounts and improve the efficiency of investigative agencies.

Admission schedule:

• ​Start of registration: 26 August 2022r.
• End of registration: 31 August 2022r.
• Entry exam: 6 September 2022 r. 
• Results: 9 September 2022 r.
• Enrollment: 12-14 September 2022 r.

Admission rules

Required documents

Insurance:

Each doctoral student, including a foreigner, admitted to the doctoral school is obligatorily subject to health insurance if he/she is not covered by such insurance on other grounds (e.g. employment
relationship, contract of mandate, business activity, insured as a family member under 26 years of age, as the spouse of an insured person). The health insurance contribution is paid by the Jagiellonian
University and is financed from the State budget. In addition, a doctoral student receiving a doctoral scholarship is subject to compulsory retirement and disability insurance and accident insurance.

IMPORTANT:

A person admitted to the doctoral school begin education and acquire doctoral student rights upon taking the oath. The Department of Personal Affairs reports doctoral student admitted to the School to compulsory health and social insurance at the commencement of education, i.e. from 1 October at the earliest. Until that time foreign candidates are obliged to cover the costs of insurance forthe time of travel, treatment, etc. individually.