The SMBE Fellows Program aims to provide mentorship and guidance to early-career researchers in scientific writing for evolutionary and molecular biology. Specifically, we aim to develop skills in writing Highlight articles for our two sister journals Molecular Biology and Evolution (MBE) and Genome Biology and Evolution (GBE). Fellows will gain experience in translating scientific research into articles for an informed, non-specialized audience, while receiving editorial guidance and networking opportunities within the SMBE community, including the possibility of attending the next SMBE annual meeting.
This is a unique opportunity for young researchers to contribute to the visibility of science in our field, gain networking opportunities, and build skills for a future career in research, publishing, or science communication.
2025 Fellows
Ioanna Kotari (University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna): Ioanna is a PhD student in the Vienna Graduate School of Population Genetics in Austria. Her research focuses on developing models to study the complex processes that underlie adaptation and shape the evolutionary history of species. She is building new models that combine information from both multi-species and multi-population data to model the evolution of protein-coding sequences, bridging population genetics and phylogenetics. She aims to make these methods broadly accessible by integrating them into widely used software and improving their computational efficiency. By reducing computational costs and technical barriers, she hopes to support more inclusive and collaborative research in evolutionary biology. She values open science and public outreach and aims to contribute to efforts that make scientific research more widely accessible.
Shady Kuster (Colorado State University): Shady is completing her PhD at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO, USA. She studies the co-evolution of mitochondrial and nuclear genes and has recently been investigating mitochondrial physiology in high-elevation deer mice. She enjoys being outdoors, knitting, reading, and kickboxing! She is excited to learn better science communication as an SMBE writing fellow, as she cares greatly about making scientific findings more accessible. After she completes her PhD, she plans on pursuing an academic faculty position and remain involved in effective science communication.
Haoran Cai (University of California, Los Angeles): Haoran is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA. He earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT. Haoran's research interests include evolutionary and quantitative genetics, systems biology, genome evolution, and complex traits. He investigates the interplay between genetic variation, development, and natural selection through empirical and theoretical approaches. Haoran is also enthusiastic about enhancing visibility and community engagement for early career researchers.
What are the Highlights?
MBE and GBE Highlights are feature articles published by our sister journals, drawing attention to recently published research of unique interest. They summarize the featured research article for our audience of experts in molecular biology, evolution and genomics, who may not be familiar with a specific field of research or study system. Each Highlight is typically between 800-1000 words (excluding references). Candidates can check these two examples of previous Highlights in our journals for reference:
- Highlight: Unmasking the Supergene Beneath the Ruff's Mating Strategies
- Highlight: From Prey to Pathogen—The Role of Predation in Driving Virulence
Application
Applications for the 2025 edition of the SMBE Fellows Program are now closed.
Eligibility and candidate selection
The program is open to early-career researchers in evolutionary biology and related fields affiliated with the SMBE. At the time of the application deadline, postdoctoral researchers must have received their PhD up to 5 years before the deadline, and PhD students, must be enrolled in their third year or above.
Applicants will be selected based on demonstrated writing ability, curricular evaluation, and motivation to communicate research to a broader audience. We will make explicit efforts to take into account gender, ethnic, geographic, and disciplinary diversity, following SMBE’s Statement of Values.
Program information
All Fellows will participate in an initial training session covering best practices for selection of impactful research, scientific storytelling, and adaptation of technical language for a broader audience.
Fellows will be expected to contribute, each, up to two Highlight articles per year, across both journals (four total). Articles will be distributed evenly across the calendar year to maintain steady journal output and avoid overburdening any single Fellow. The term of commitment to the position as Fellow is of two years.
Benefits for fellows
The selected fellows will benefit from:
- Opportunity to author Highlight articles in MBE and GBE
- Training and mentoring in writing and editing in evolutionary biology
- Networking opportunities within the SMBE community, including the possibility of attending the SMBE2026 annual meeting
More Information
For more information, please contact:
Brandon Gaut (bgaut@uci.edu)
Maud Tenaillon (maud.tenaillon@cnrs.fr)
Pedro Andrade (smbe.socialmedia@gmail.com)