No living organism escapes evolutionary change, and evolutionary biology thus connects all biological disciplines. To understand the processes driving evolution, we need a theoretical framework to predict and test evolutionary changes in populations. Population genetic theory provides this basic framework, integrating mathematical and statistical concepts with fundamental biological principles of genetic inheritance, selection, mutation, migration and random genetic drift. Population genetic models allow us to make quantitative predictions that can inform an experimentalist while designing new experiments, and give us a deeper understanding of how evolution works. This School will cover topics such as evolutionary rescue, mechanisms and dynamics of molecular evolution, microbial range expansions and the use of pedigrees in population genetics. For each topic, lectures will begin with basic concepts and end with recent advances in the field. A series of research seminars will also intro...
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