Fabrizio Ghiselli

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BIOSKETCH

Fabrizio Ghiselli is an Associate Professor of Zoology at the Department of Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences (BiGeA) of the Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna.

His research operates at the intersection of evolutionary biology, zoology, and comparative genomics, with a primary focus on how the dynamics between conflicts and cooperation shape evolution, leveraging biodiversity genomics to unravel mitonuclear coevolution, sociality, and the adaptive mechanisms of complex biological systems under environmental shifts.

He graduated in Natural Sciences (summa cum laude) in 2006 and earned his PhD in Biodiversity and Evolution in 2010 from the University of Bologna. Following his doctoral studies, he advanced through multiple academic ranks within the same institution, serving as a Senior Postdoctoral Associate, a Junior Assistant Professor (RTDa)—a position fully funded by the competitive "Futuro in Ricerca" grant for which he served as Principal Investigator—and subsequently as a Senior Assistant Professor (RTDb).

He consolidated his international scientific profile by spending a total of 20 months as a Visiting Scientist at the University of Southern California (USC, Los Angeles, USA) in the Nuzhdin Lab, where he developed advanced expertise in high-throughput sequencing, bioinformatic experimental design, and high-performance computing.

He also carried out research as a Visiting Scientist at the University of Montreal (Canada) in the Breton Lab, focusing on mitochondrial inheritance and evolution in bivalve molluscs.

Currently, he coordinates high-profile international scientific initiatives while maintaining an active network of academic collaborations. He is the Main Proposer of the European COST Action CA25165 (CONSENSA - Consensus Standards for Applied Biodiversity Genomics), an European network dedicated to establishing interoperable standards in biodiversity genomics (starting in September 2026). He serves as the National Representative for Italy on the Council of the European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA), where he also acts as Co-Chair of the Social Justice Committee. He is the founder and coordinator of the Wood Wide Ants (WWA) project, an integrative research framework investigating the population genomics, collective behaviour, and climate resilience of wood ants (Formica spp.). Furthermore, his research is deeply embedded in national scientific networks; he closely collaborates with Italian research groups (including teams at the Universities of Firenze, Pavia, Siena, and Bari) on the themes of evolutionary genomics, sociality, and multilevel organization in complex biological systems. This shared research line has recently shaped a joint collaborative proposal focused on metastability and evolving cooperation across complex physical, biological, cognitive, and AI systems.

In terms of teaching and institutional governance, he is the instructor for the MSc courses Genome Evolution and Laboratory of Comparative Genomics, as well as the BSc course Zoology. He served as the Delegate for Teaching and is a member of the Academic Board for the PhD programme in Earth, Life and Environmental Sciences. His administrative responsibilities include serving on the BiGeA Departmental Research Committee (acting as Delegate for the SUA-RD quality assurance system) and sitting as a Biological Sciences expert on the University Research Evaluation Committee (VRA).

Deeply committed to public outreach and third-mission activities, he serves in the Governing Board and as a topic coordinator for the scientific dissemination initiative "ParliamoneOra" and directs the public engagement and knowledge transfer activities embedded within the WWA project.

EDUCATION

• 2010: PhD in Biodiversity and Evolution (Evaluation: Excellent) — University of Bologna, Italy

• 2006: MSc in Natural Sciences (Evaluation: Summa cum laude) — University of Bologna, Italy

CURRENT AND PREVIOUS POSITIONS

• 2020 – Present: Associate Professor of Zoology, BiGeA Department, University of Bologna

• 2017 – 2020: Senior Assistant Professor (RTDb), BiGeA Department, University of Bologna (Position 50% co-funded by the Rector as an incentive for winners of competitive grants)

• 2014 – 2017: Junior Assistant Professor (RTDa), BiGeA Department, University of Bologna (Position 100% funded by the "Futuro in Ricerca" Grant RBFR13T97A, serving as Principal Investigator)

• 2012 – 2014: Senior Postdoctoral Research Associate, BiGeA Department, University of Bologna

• 2010 – 2012: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Experimental Evolutionary Biology, University of Bologna

VISITING ACADEMIC POSITIONS

• Visiting Scientist — Nuzhdin Lab, Molecular and Computational Biology Section, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, USA (Total of 20 months between 2009 and 2015). Developed expertise in high-throughput sequencing, experimental design, genomics/transcriptomics assembly, and high-performance computing.

• Visiting Scientist — Breton Lab, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Montreal, Canada (2 months). Research on mitochondrial inheritance and evolution in bivalve molluscs.

TEACHING ACTIVITIES & SUPERVISION

Lectures (All at the University of Bologna):

• Genome Evolution (48 hrs) — Biodiversity and Evolution MSc Program (2020 – Present)

• Laboratory of Comparative Genomics (56 hrs) — Biodiversity and Evolution MSc Program (2020 – Present)

• Zoology (24 hrs) — Biological Sciences BSc Program (2025 – Present)

• Molecular and Genome Evolution (48 hrs) — Genomics BSc Program (2020 – 2025)

• Genome Evolution (8 hrs) — Biodiversity and Evolution MSc Program (2020 – 2025)

• Genome Evolution (28 hrs) — Biodiversity and Evolution MSc Program (2010 – 2020)

• Molecular Evolution (16 hrs) — Biodiversity and Evolution MSc Program (2016 – 2019)

• Animal Biology (52 hrs) — Natural Science BSc Program (2016 – 2019)

• Biological Evolution (6 hrs) — Collegio Superiore (School of Excellence) (2017)

• High-Throughput Sequencing: Methods and Data Analysis (10 hrs) — FISHMED PhD Program (2018 – 2019)

Supervisions:

• Primary Supervisor: 3 PhD students, 27 MSc students, 23 BSc students

• Co-Supervisor: 4 PhD students, 8 MSc students, 2 BSc students

RESEARCH INTERESTS & SCIENTIFIC NETWORKS

My research integrates evolutionary biology, genomics, and biodiversity across multiple scales, focusing on genomic conflict, mitonuclear coevolution, sociality, and multilevel biological complexity.

Key International & National Networks:

• COST Action CA25165 (CONSENSA): Main Proposer of the Action "Consensus Standards for Applied Biodiversity Genomics" (Approved May 2026, starting September 2026).

• Wood Wide Ants (WWA) Project: Founder and coordinator of this integrative research and public engagement platform dedicated to the genomics, population genetics, and multiscale climate adaptation of wood ants (Formica spp.) in collaboration with several Italian and international research groups.

• European Reference Genome Atlas (ERGA): Council Representative for Italy (2026 – Present); Co-Chair of the Social Justice Committee and member of the ELSI committee.

• Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance (GIGA): Communications Director (2018 – 2023); organizer of GIGA III and GIGA IV conferences.

ACADEMIC GOVERNANCE & RESPONSIBILITIES

• 2022 – Present: Academic Board Member, PhD Programme in Earth, Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna.

• 2022 – Present: Panel Expert in Biological Sciences, University Research Evaluation Committee (VRA), University of Bologna.

• 2018 – Present: Research Committee Member, BiGeA Department. Institutional Delegate for the SUA-RD (Annual Form for Departmental Research Quality Assurance).

• 2024 – 2026: Delegate for Teaching, PhD Programme in Earth, Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna.

• 2019 – 2021: Tutor at the Collegio Superiore, School of Excellence of the University of Bologna.

• 2015 – 2021: Working Group Member for VQR 2015-2020 (National Research Quality Evaluation exercise), BiGeA Department.

• 2018 – 2019: Academic Board Member, FISHMED-PhD Programme, University of Bologna.

FUNDING AND GRANTS (CURRENT AND PAST)

• 2026: Main Proposer | Consensus Standards for Applied Biodiversity Genomics | COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).

• 2024: Principal Investigator (Subcontractor) | Enhancing Case Studies in Application-Driven Reference Genome Projects for species in Europe (BGE mission) | SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics / EU Horizon Europe.

• 2022: Member of the Leading Research Unit | Unraveling Sex Determination in Bivalves: An Integrative Single-Cell Analysis | NextGenerationEU / National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).

• 2014: Principal Investigator (PI) | Mitochondrial Inheritance and Biogenesis: Functional and Evolutionary Aspects | "Futuro in Ricerca" Grant, Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR).

• 2009: Member of Research Unit (PhD Student) | The mitochondrial genome: structure, evolution, heredity and phylogenetic/phylogeographic utility in Metazoa | Italian Ministry of University and Research.

• 2007: Member of Research Unit (PhD Student) | Mitochondrial genomics in Metazoa: molecular and structural evolution | Italian Ministry of University and Research.

EDITORIAL ACTIVITIES

• Guest Editor: BMC Biology Collection "Genome organization and evolution" (2025 – 2026).

• Guest Editor: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Theme Issue: "Linking the mitochondrial genotype to phenotype: a complex endeavour" (2019 – 2020).

• Scientific Reviewer: Grant evaluator for the Czech Science Foundation (2023), Marsden Fund (New Zealand, 2021), and National Science Centre (Poland: 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018). Regular reviewer for top-tier evolutionary biology and genomics journals.

CONFERENCE ORGANIZATION & SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY SERVICE

He has a sustained track record of organizing and chairing prominent national and international scientific events. He has conceptualized and chaired a series of specialized symposia at the international meetings of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) across Gold Coast (2016), Yokohama (2018), a virtual edition (2021), and Ferrara (2023), establishing a global community around mitochondrial genomics and mitonuclear evolution. His broader conference organization experience includes key evolutionary biology and genomics events, such as the 19th International Chromosome Conference (Bologna, 2013), the 6th Congress of the Italian Society for Evolutionary Biology (SIBE-ISEB, Bologna, 2015), and the Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance meetings (GIGA III in Curaçao, 2018, and GIGA IV online, 2021), a network for which he also served as Communications Director from 2018 to 2023. Most recently, he served as a member of the organizing committee for the XX National Meeting of the Italian Association for the Study of Social and Presocial Insects (A.I.S.A.S.P.), hosted in Bologna in September 2025.

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT & OUTREACH

• "ParliamoneOra" Initiative: Topic Coordinator for "Basic research and scientific discovery: who needs them, and why" and for "Biodiversity and Evolution", organizing public debates and scientific outreach.

• Wood Wide Ants (WWA): Extensive dissemination and public engagement activities using social platforms, web resources, and public talks to communicate collective behavior, forest ecology, and biodiversity genomics to non-specialist audiences.

MEMBERSHIPS IN SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES

• 2010 – Present: Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) — Lifetime Member
  

• 2010 – Present: Italian Society for Evolutionary Biology (SIBE-ISEB)

• 2024 – Present: Royal Entomological Society

• 2011 – 2018: Society for the Study of Evolution (SSE)

• 2017 – 2018: European Society for Evolutionary Developmental Biology (EED)

• 2017 – 2019: Società Italiana Ricerca Applicata Molluschicoltura (SIRAM)

• 2015 – 2017: European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB)

• 2010 – 2015: Genetics Society of America (GSA)

• 2007 – 2014: Unione Zoologica Italiana (UZI)