Biological evolution is the phenotypic transformation of organisms through time.
Evolution is fueled by the introduction of novel phenotypes, and steered by population-level interactions including natural selection and genetic draft. The predominant route to heritable phenotypic change originates with genetic mutation. Concepts such as canalization, epistasis, pleiotropy, and modularity underlie our understanding of phenotypic variability. Yet a microfoundation of these concepts and of their interconnections in terms of the relation between genotype and phenotype is largely missing. The research will involve collaboration with molecular biologists, chemists, physicists and computer scientists, and is expected to draw on research in computational search and optimization techniques as well as in RNA and protein dynamics.