Dr Tom Williams
PhD(Dub.), BA(Dub.)
Expertise
I'm a computational evolutionary biologist. My work uses computational methods (mostly phylogenetics and bioinformatics) to study how molecules, genomes and microbes evolve, and to learn about the evolutionary history of life.
Current positions
Associate Professor in Molecular Evolution
School of Biological Sciences
Contact
Press and media
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Research interests
I study the early evolution of life using bioinformatics, phylogenetics and comparative genomics. The key questions relate to the nature of early life, the phylogeny of prokaryotes, the processes of microbial/genome evolution, the evolution of metabolism and the origin of eukaryotic cells.
Current group members include:
- Dr. Sandra Alvarez-Carretero (with Phil Donoghue and Davide Pisani): microbial phylogeny.
- Dr. Alex Bowles (with Chris Williamson and Phil Donoghue): algal genome evolution and phylogeny.
- Dr. James Clark (with Alistair Hetherington, Bristol): plant phylogeny.
- Dr. Christopher Kay (with Phil Donoghue): eukaryote origins.
- Dr. Edmund Moody: early evolution and the tree of life.
- Dr. Anna Nenarokova (with Phil Donoghue and Davide Pisani): eukaryote origins.
- Dr. Sam Williams: evolution of polyketide biosynthesis.
- Amy Russell: evolution of CPR Bacteria.
- Ollie Jarvis: eukaryote origins.
Get in touch if you are interested in joining, particularly if you want to work on "deep time" phylogenetics of prokaryotes or microbial eukaryotes.
You can find more information at Google Scholar, on Twitter (@tweethinking), or on Github (Tancata).
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
sLoLa: Role of WGD in eukaryote evolution
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Biological SciencesDates
01/04/2025 to 31/03/2029
PDRA funding on RS Enhancement Award
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Biological SciencesDates
01/04/2021 to 31/03/2023
PDRA funding on RS Enhancement Award
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Biological SciencesDates
17/10/2020 to 31/10/2023
URF Renewal: Assembling Complex Life
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Biological SciencesDates
17/10/2020 to 16/10/2023
Modelling lateral gene transfer on a new bacterial tree
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Biological SciencesDates
05/03/2018 to 04/03/2020
Publications
Recent publications
04/04/2025A geological timescale for bacterial evolution and oxygen adaptation
Science
Asgard archaea reveal the conserved principles of ESCRT-III membrane remodeling
Science Advances
Chimeric origins and dynamic evolution of central carbon metabolism in eukaryotes
Nature Ecology and Evolution
Diversification, niche adaptation, and evolution of a candidate phylum thriving in the deep Critical Zone
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
The emergence of metabolisms through Earth history and implications for biospheric evolution
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Related people
Professor Philip Donoghue
Professor of Palaeobiology
School of Earth Sciences
Professor Davide Pisani
Professor of Phylogenomics
School of Biological Sciences
Dr Christopher Kay
Research Associate
School of Biological Sciences
Dr Sam Lawday
NIHR Doctoral Research Fellow
Bristol Medical School (PHS)
Dr Edmund Moody
Senior Research Associate
School of Chemistry