HEAS in the News
In the latest edition of Profil Magazine, HEAS Head Gerhard Weber is interviewed about his work (in German) Download a PDF here
News
Autor: Maeve Nic Samhradáin
News
Applications open MCSA postdoctoral fellow programme
The groups for (paleo-)genomics/proteomics at the growing Department for Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna support applications to the MCSA postdoctoral fellow programme. We are searching for motivated candidates with project ideas related to our research interests, to be implemented at this high-level institution. We encourage you to get into contact with us if you are interested in working on the following topics: Ron Pinhasi: ancient DNA, human population history, sediment DNA (https://www.pinhasilab.at/) Verena Schünemann: ancient and historical pathogen genomics, historical RNA (https://www.iem.uzh.ch/en/people/abg/VerenaSchuenemann-.html) Katerina Douka: paleoproteomics, dating, ancient hominins (https://www.katerinadouka.com/) Martin Kuhlwilm: computational admixture genomics in humans and primates (https://admixture.univie.ac.at) More information on implementation and additional support here: https://forschungsservice.univie.ac.at/foerdermoeglichkeiten/msca-pf/ The University of Vienna is an equal-opportunity employer, supports applications from underrepresented groups and minorities and offers generous support for a 3rd year of employment to the 10 top-ranked MSCA European Postdoctoral Fellowships (top 5 female and top 5 male) awarded to the University.
News
HEAS in the News
Gerhard Weber was recently interviewed by the Austrian Public Broadcaster ORF about his recent publication on the Venus from Willendorf. The report can be viewed here
News
HEAS Deputy Head Ron Pinhasi made full Professor at University of Vienna
Congratulations to Ron Pinhasi, Deputy Head of HEAS, who has been made a full Professor at the University of Vienna. For more information on Ron's background click here
Archive News
Venus from Willendorf is from Northern Italy!
Mystery solved about the origin of the 30,000-year-old Venus of Willendorf as new research method shows that the material likely comes from northern Italy The almost 11 cm high figurine from Willendorf is one of the most important examples of early art in Europe. It is made of a rock called "oolite" which is not found in or around Willendorf. A research team led by the anthropologist Gerhard Weber from the University of Vienna and the two geologists Alexander Lukeneder and Mathias Harzhauser... Read More
Publications
Sex classification using the human sacrum: Geometric morphometrics versus conventional approaches
Krenn, V.A., Webb, N.M., Fornai, C., Haeusler, M., 2022. Sex classification using the human sacrum: Geometric morphometrics versus conventional approaches. PloS one 17, e0264770. read more
Publications
Unveiling the Genetic History of the Maniq, a Primary Hunter-Gatherer Society
Göllner T., Larena M., Kutanan W., Lukas H., Fieder M. , Schaschl H. , Unveiling the Genetic History of the Maniq, a Primary Hunter-Gatherer Society, Genome Biology and Evolution, Volume 14, Issue 4, April 2022 read more
Publications
The microstructure and the origin of the Venus from Willendorf
Weber, G.W., Lukeneder, A., Harzhauser, M., Mitteroecker, P., Wurm, L., Hollaus, L.-M., Kainz, S., Haack, F., Antl-Weiser, W., Kern, A., 2022. The microstructure and the origin of the Venus from Willendorf. Scientific Reports 12, 2926. read more
Archive News
New Paper on the Grotte Mandrin (France)
A new article on the Grotte Mandrin has been published. Higham, Douka et. al. show that Homo sapiens made the so-called "Neronian" Palaeolithic industry there ~54,000 years ago. This is the earliest evidence there is in this part of the world for modern humans. Read More
Publications
Ancient DNA and deep population structure in sub-Saharan African foragers
Lipson, M., Sawchuk, E.A., Thompson, J.C., Oppenheimer, J., Tryon, C.A., Ranhorn, K.L., de Luna, K.M., Sirak, K.A., Olalde, I., Ambrose, S.H., Arthur, J.W., Arthur, K.J.W., Ayodo, G., Bertacchi, A., Cerezo-Román, J.I., Culleton, B.J., Curtis, M.C., Davis, J., Gidna, A.O., Hanson, A., Kaliba, P., Katongo, M., Kwekason, A., Laird, M.F., Lewis, J., Mabulla, A.Z.P., Mapemba, F., Morris, A., Mudenda, G., Mwafulirwa, R., Mwangomba, D., Ndiema, E., Ogola, C., Schilt, F., Willoughby, P.R., Wright, D.K., Zipkin, A., Pinhasi, R., Kennett, D.J., Manthi, F.K., Rohland, N., Patterson, N., Reich, D., Prendergast, M.E., 2022. Ancient DNA and deep population structure in sub-Saharan African foragers. Nature. read more
Publications
The Impact of Vegetation on the Visibility of Archaeological Features in Airborne Laser Scanning Datasets from Different Acquisition Dates.
Doneus, M., Banaszek, Ł., Verhoeven, G.J., 2022. The Impact of Vegetation on the Visibility of Archaeological Features in Airborne Laser Scanning Datasets from Different Acquisition Dates. Remote Sensing 14, 858. read more
Publications
The Effects of Sex, Nation, Ethnicity, Age and Self-Reported Pubertal Development on Participant-Measured Right-Left 2D:4D (Dr-L) in the BBC Internet Study
Manning, J., B. Fink., Mason, L., Kasielska-Trojan, A., Trivers, R., 2022. The effects of sex, nation, ethnicity, age and self-reported pubertal development on participant-measured right-left 2D: 4D (Dr-l) in the BBC internet study. Journal of Biosocial Science, 1-13. read more
Publications
Facial cues to physical strength increase attractiveness but decrease aggressiveness assessments in male Maasai of Northern Tanzania
Butovskaya, M.L., Mezentseva, A., Mabulla, A., Shackelford, T.K., Schaefer, K., Fink, B., Windhager, S., 2022. Facial cues to physical strength increase attractiveness but decrease aggressiveness assessments in male Maasai of Northern Tanzania. Evolution and Human Behavior 43, 115-121. read more
Publications
Trace element ratios in tooth enamel as palaeodietary indicators of seaweed consumption and coastal grazing, and their broader applicability
Blanz, M., Stewart, S., Mainland, I., Ascough, P., Raab, A., Feldmann, J., Taggart, M.A., 2022. Trace element ratios in tooth enamel as palaeodietary indicators of seaweed consumption and coastal grazing, and their broader applicability. Journal of Archaeological Science 139. read more
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members
Laura VAN DER SLUIS
I am a senior scientist in the team and laboratory of Tom Higham and Katerina Douka in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna. My background is in archaeology, radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis on human and faunal remains for palaeodietary purposes. Previous projects I have worked on involved extinct giant tortoise bones from Mauritius, prehistoric human and faunal material from the Limfjord in Denmark, and Palaeolithic whale bone objects from France and Spain. I am interested in human-environmental interactions in the past, human evolution, and the effect of diagenetic alterations on isotopic signatures in bone and teeth.
Archive Events
HEAS Workshop
The HEAS Workshops are intended to introduce basics of techniques/methods in a concise format to other colleagues, no matter if they come from the same discipline or from completely different fields. The typical workshop is a one-day event (but can be longer) and includes a theoretical part (mostly to make participants familiar with terms and procedures), and importantly, much practical work. After a workshop one should have a good idea what can be achieved with a particular technique or method, what the main inputs and outputs are, and where it links to other fields. HEAS Workshops can be organized in an online or hybrid format and are offered within our network without costs. For external participants we charge a fee of € 100/day. All workshops come with a maximum number of attendees. It is necessary to register in advance. One example for a HEAS workshop would be: Title Location Max. no. of participants 3D shape and form analysis (EVAN Toolbox) Online 15
Research
HEAS Seed Grants
Our HEAS Seed Grant initiative will support pilot projects that will induce more collaborative work in our network. We want to keep it simple and unbureaucratic. Applications for the HEAS Seed Grants will be accepted three times a year. The deadlines for 2025 are 28th February, 30th June and 31st October. Applications are open to all HEAS PhDs, Postdocs, and PIs. Each seed grant will be for a sum up to € 5,000. There will be a minimum of three Seed Grants offered each time. You may submit up to two submissions if: You don't already have an active HEAS Seed Grant from a previous round You are not the lead on both (i.e. you can be a lead on one and a collabarator on another) Proposals will be evaluated by all members of the HEAS Management Board, the best three proposals will be funded. Grantees will be announced in the NEWS Section of the HEAS website. Guidelines The short proposals should have: 1 or 2 pages maximum, provide a summary of what will be done, what the target of the pilot project is (e.g., preparation for grant applications, proof of concept, etc.), and particularly should make clear the bridging aspect of the intended interdisciplinary work in the framework of HEAS. Budget: Please include a breakdown of items in the budget part of…
Members
Emese VÉGH
Emese Végh is a FWF ESPRIT Principal Investigator on the project titled ‘Human Evolution Beyond Collagen (HUMEVCOL)’ at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna. Mentored by Tom Higham, Emese aims to pioneer single amino acid radiocarbon dating techniques targeting γ-carboxyglutamic acids (Gla)-containing proteins in bones that do not preserve collagen, which is often the case for fossil bones recovered from (sub-)tropical areas. This innovative approach is set to revolutionise the analysis and dating of key archaic hominin remains. Previously, Emese led the ‘Hidden by Fire’ project as an FWO Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), under the guidance of Christophe Snoeck and Steven Goderis. Her research there centred on the consistency, contamination, and diagenetic potential of elemental concentrations in bone burnt at various temperatures, their interaction, as well as the efficacy of pretreatment methods on cremated bone before stable isotopic analysis and radiocarbon dating. Before that, she was also a Postdoctoral Researcher in Palaeoproteomics on Katerina Douka’s ERC FINDER project at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, analysing and identifying faunal and hominin remains from Pleistocene Eurasia and developed the SpecieScan algorithm for semi-automated species identification of bone fragments from MALDI-ToF-MS spectra. Emese completed her DPhil in Archaeological Science at the University of Oxford, focusing on the diagenesis and thermal stability of bioapatite,…
Research Areas: Bone diagenesis, Elemental Concentrations, Data Science, Palaeoproteomics, Taphonomy, Radiocarbon Dating
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members
Sonja WINDHAGER
Sonja Windhager is a trained biologist and lecturer in Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna. Her research focus is on geometric morphometric approaches to human facial shape and interpersonal perception. This includes an interest in modern imaging techniques to study human facial form in two and three dimensions. The emphasis is on the use of calibrated morphs in intra- and cross-cultural research. Furthermore, she investigates human social behavior in the context of biophilia and the urban environment.
Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology (IUHA) Members
Lukas WALTENBERGER
I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology and at the Department of Prehistory and WANA Archaeology, of the Austrian Archaeological Institute. I am a biological and forensic anthropologist with a research focus on cremated human remains, trauma analyses, and palaeopathology. I have a master's degree in Forensic Osteology (Bournemouth University, UK) and a PhD in Life Sciences (University of Vienna) performed in the framework of the ERC-project »VAMOS – The value of mothers to society« (ÖAW, PI: Katharina Rebay-Salisbury). Currently, I am spokesman of the working group »Palaeoanthropology and Prehistoric Anthropology« of the Anthropological Society (GfA).
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members
Jeannette BECKER
I am a PhD student at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology and especially interested in respiratory diseases in past populations, palaeopathology, evolutionary medicine and diseases in regard of the human life history. I received a BSc in Biology in 2017, followed by a MSc in 2021 from the University of Vienna. I completed my master’s degree in Anthropology where I investigated paranasal sinusitis and their relation to skeletal stress markers in human remains. In addition, I am currently studying medicine at the Medical University of Vienna, which I will complete in 2022.
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members
Thomas BEARD
I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology as part of Mareike Stahlschmidt’s team. I received my Masters degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. For my MSc I worked at the site of Border Cave, South Africa, using the geoarchaeological techniques of fabric and facies analyses to understand the formation of the upper portion of the archaeological sequence. I am a geoarchaeologist, with a specific interest in investigating micro- to macroscale cave/rockshelter site formation processes and employing a multiproxy approach, using methods such as XRF, particle size analysis, and fabric analysis. I am also a multidisciplinary archaeologist and have a generalised knowledge of other archaeological fields. For my PhD I am pivoting into microarchaeology by using the technique of micromorphology to understand and contextualize the preservation of ancient DNA at the microscale at Upper Palaeolithic cave sites in Georgia.
Network Associates
KS Duffett CARLSON
I am a PhD candidate in Biology (Evolutionary Anthropology). My background is in archaeology and biological anthropology. I am interested in non-destructive scanning methods to study palaeodiet, functional morphology, and taphonomy in ancient samples. I also have extensive experience excavating Palaeolithic sites.
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members Allgemein
Arne BIELKE
After I started studying biology at Leibniz University Hannover, I developed an interest in population genetics, conservation genetics, and ecology. Driven this passion, I pursued my education in evolutionary systems biology at the University of Vienna. For my master's thesis, I focused on recurrent ecotype formation of an alpine plant. I conducted a comprehensive analysis of smRNA profiles from reciprocally transplanted individuals and those grown in a common garden. Currently, for my PhD, my research focuses on New Zealand feral horses. Through bioinformatic and comparative population genomics, my goal is to provide science- based insights for future conservation management plans. This endeavor aims to preserve the historical and cultural heritage of New Zealand's European settlers through studying their horses, as human history has always shaped and been shaped by the history of our livestock’s.
Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology (IUHA) Members
Timothy CANESSA
I am a doctoral student at the Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology at the University of Vienna investigating the variability of Early Upper Palaeolithic assemblages in the Iberian Peninsula. My research project seeks to understand the drivers of this stone tool assemblage variability and its relationship to the idiosyncratic pattern of modern human settlement in the region. I am particularly interested in the connection between, on the one hand, mobility and lithic technological strategies and, on the other hand, the character and composition of these lithic artefact assemblages. As a corollary of this, I am exploring whether expedient technology was a feature of human occupation during this time and if this has any bearing on the “indeterminate” nature of some Early Upper Palaeolithic assemblages.
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members
Heather CHAMBERLAIN IRWIN
I am a PhD candidate at the University of Vienna and an ancient DNA bioinformatician specializing in the study of ancient plants, particularly maize, and their role in human history. My work focuses on maize varieties from the Andes, where I collaborate with local communities to learn about their unique agricultural traditions and crop diversity. Combining advanced computational genomics with hands-on ancient DNA laboratory techniques, I uncover the genetic secrets of ancient crops. I am passionate about exploring ancient food systems, investigating how plants like maize were domesticated, diversified, and adapted to different environments. My research also delves into the co-evolution of plants and animals, examining the complex interplay between human societies, agriculture, and the ecosystems they shaped. Collaborating with Iowa State University in the United States and the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina in Peru, I integrate bioinformatics with a deep appreciation for the cultural and ecological significance of ancient food systems. Through my work, I aim to illuminate the intricate relationships that have sustained human and non-human life for millennia.
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members
Konstantina CHESHMEDZHIEVA
I am currently a PhD student in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna. I hold a Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology Engineering from the University of Food Technologies in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Driven by my interests in anthropology and genetics, I earned my MSc in Molecular Biology (Bioinformatics track) from the University of Padua in 2023. My master’s thesis centered on developing a novel method for estimating and detecting statistically significant levels of genetic assortative mating in contemporary European populations, utilizing large-scale data from the UK and Estonian biobanks. Under the supervision of Katerina Douka and Martin Kuhlwilm, my current research focuses on identifying Denisovan presence in Island Southeast Asia and Oceania, generating ancient DNA data from the region and conducting bioinformatic analyses.
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members
Corentin DEPPE
I am currently a PhD student in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna. My academic background is in Ecology and Evolution, with a focus on palaeoecology. For my master’s thesis, I applied ancient DNA approaches to study population genomics in mussels. As a member of Pere Gelabert’s team within the ERC project, SHADOWS, which investigates human-carnivore interactions during the Upper Palaeolithic in several sites across Cantabria. My research focuses on the paleogenomics of the last megafaunal carnivore populations of the region, aiming to better understand their genetic diversity, evolutionary history, and relationship with humans.
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members
Ginevra DI BERNARDO
I am a PhD candidate at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, with an interest in the study of human remains through Virtual Anthropology and Geometric Morphometrics. Presently, my research focuses in particular on dental anthropology, combining 3D virtual imaging techniques with geometric morphometrics. I hold a Master’s degree in Archaeology, Art and Landscape Heritage from the University of Bologna and I am currently completing an MSc in Geoarchaeological, Anthropological and Forensic Sciences at the University of Ferrara.
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members
Florian EXLER
I am a PhD student working on a cooperative project between the Department of Environmental Geosciences and the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology. With a background in chemistry, my research focuses on enhancing lab methods to refine and improve the recovery rates and quality of ancient DNA (aDNA) data. In this context, I also investigate the sources of aDNA and the factors that may influence its preservation. While my work is primarily focused on sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA), my approach also contributes to the study of aDNA from a variety of sources, broadening its potential applications in environmental and archaeological research.
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members
Tobias GÖLLNER
Tobias Göllner investigates the peopling of Asia via genetic ancestry, population structure, demography and selection. Currently he works together with the Maniq, a primary hunter-gatherer community of Southeast Asia to uncover their genetic history, admixture, and archaic introgression. Further topics of investigation will be selection and adaptation to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle in the rainforest. (PhD Supervisors: Martin Fieder and Helmut Schaschl)
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members
Carla GÓMEZ MONTES
I am a PhD candidate jointly enrolled in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna and the History and Geography PhD program at the University of Cantabria. My supervisors are Pere Gelabert (University of Vienna) and Ana B. Marín Arroyo (University of Cantabria). I hold a Bachelor’s degree in History and a Master’s degree in Prehistory and Archaeology, both from the University of Cantabria. My master’s thesis aimed to try refine the chronology of the Gravettian occupation at Altamira and to investigate the subsistence strategies of the earliest human groups in the site through the study of bioarchaeological remains. I am currently part of the BEAM Lab and the ERC project SHADOWS. Specifically, my field of research during the development of this project will be archaeozoology, a discipline in which I will focus mainly on two aspects: the taphonomic study of bone remains and the application of the ZooMS technique for proteomic analysis in bioarchaeological materials from sites in northern Spain and South-East France. I am also part of the EvoAdapta research group at the University of Cantabria. By combining proteomic approaches (ZooMS) with archaeozoological and taphonomic analyses, the project improves taxonomic identification of non-diagnostic faunal remains. This integrative framework enables a refined reconstruction of human-animal relationship seeking to widen the knowledge about human–carnivore dynamics, offering new…
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members
Michelle HÄMMERLE
I am a PhD student at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna. After a bachelor’s degree in Molecular Medicine, I completed the master's program in Evolutionary Anthropology here in Vienna. My research interests focus on ancient host and pathogen DNA and I work with both great apes and humans. For my master’s thesis, I investigated DNA viruses in great apes, where I am still doing more research. My PhD project deals with social genomics in underprivileged individuals from Northern Italy, where I will incorporate different datasets, including archaeological and osteological data, to get an insight into the living conditions of the populations studied.
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members
Josef HACKL
I am currently a PhD student in the Computational Admixture Genomics group at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna. Among others, I completed a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Master’s degree in Genetics and Developmental Biology at the University of Vienna. My PhD project primarily deals with the application of Machine Learning techniques in population genetics, focusing on Deep Learning Architectures for detecting Ghost Admixture and Adaptive Introgression.
Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology (IUHA) Members
Doris JETZINGER
I am a PhD candidate at the Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology and a member of the Doctoral School of Historical and Cultural Studies at the University of Vienna. My PhD work is supervised by Michael Doneus and Roderick B. Salisbury. I am a landscape- and geoarchaeologist specialising in the interdisciplinary study of sediment archives and in landscape analysis. My main research interests are the study of landscape histories, human-landscape interactions, formation processes, and chronostratigraphic landscape contexts through interdisciplinary methods and approaches. For my dissertation project “Life of a Landscape”, I am working on the creation of an archaeological landscape biography of the Kreuttal microregion in Lower Austria that focuses on the development of the landscape over the millennia and the formation processes involved. In the course of my PhD project and associated research activities I am developing skills in (p)OSL profiling and dating, sedimentology, geochemistry, and Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC).
Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science (VIAS) Members
Nisa Iduna KIRCHENGAST
Nisa Kirchengast studied Classical Archaeology, Prehistory and Historical Archaeology, and Biology at the University of Vienna. Since 2017 she has been working freelance on zooarchaeological material in Austria and Italy. Since 2021 she is a PraeDoc assistant and fellow at the Doctoral School of Historical and Cultural Studies at the University of Vienna. Her PhD project is about Roman food supply and distribution systems of animal products in the Danubian provinces. Nisa's research focuses on butchery studies, taphonomy, animal husbandry practices, foodways, Human-Animal interactions, trade and supply networks.
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members
Victoria OBERREITER
I have completed my master’s program in Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna and I am currently a PhD student in Ron Pinhasi’s group. My research is part of the research platform MINERVA (Mineralogical Preservation of the Human Biome) which studies the interactions of ancient DNA (aDNA) with and protection by diverse mineral phases. I am currently specializing in extracting aDNA from archeological sediments with a specific focus on paleolithic cave sites. The obtained metagenomic data allow me to study human population history and occupations even at sites lacking human remains.
Members
Doralice KLAINSCEK
I am an archaeologist and PhD candidate at the Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology, University of Vienna, where I am a project collaborator in Marta Luciani’s team for the FWF-funded project I6562 “ANAPAN: A New Approach to Pottery of Arabia and its Neighbors” (ANAPAN - FWF). My dissertation project “Tracing Socio-Economic Dynamics through Pottery Manufacture and Distribution: a Diachronic and Interregional Perspective from NW Arabia” investigates the socio-economic dynamics associated with the manufacture, use and distribution of pottery. The focus is on vessels from the Bronze and Iron Age site of Qurayyah –a 300ha walled multi-phase oasis-settlement in the Hejaz region of NW Arabia. Results are further contextualized in the broader NW Arabian and Southern Levantine region. I am employing an interdisciplinary chaîne-opératoire-oriented approach, studying the material through macroscopic and microscopic (petrographic) analyses and combining archaeological, technological and archaeometric perspectives.
The Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) Members
Andrea MEJIA ACEVEDO
I am a PhD student at the University of Vienna, and I currently work for my project at the Austrian Archaeological Institute of the OeAW. I have a Bachelors degree in Chemistry from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and an Erasmus Mundus Masters in Archaeological Material Sciences. My PhD research focuses on the study of ancient pigment provenance and production in the Mediterranean during the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Department of Evolutionary Anthropology (DEA) Members
Anastasia PAPADOGIANNI
I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Vienna, working under the supervision of Katerina Douka (University of Vienna) and Barbara Horejs (Austrian Academy of Sciences). I received my BA in Archaeology and Art History from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece and my MSc in Archaeological Science from the University of Oxford, UK. My research interests lie in bioarchaeology and biomolecular archaeology (especially palaeoproteomics), for the study of palaeodiet, disease prevalence, and population mobility, mostly in prehistoric contexts. Throughout my studies, I have gained experience both in field and laboratory settings, which I enjoy equally, and I have been trained in the application of various analytical techniques applied on archaeological remains. For my PhD, my research focuses on the study of the emergence of the Neolithic way of life in the Greek peninsula and the Aegean, as well as the broader region of the Balkans. With the application of a multimethod approach on skeletal remains, combining traditional (14C dating, isotopic analyses) and cutting-edge biomolecular methods (palaeoproteomics on dental calculus, ZooMS), my PhD will contribute to the investigation of questions concerning the timing, processes and impact of the Neolithisation processes and the different models of diffusion of the Neolithic across Greece and further afield.