We are happy to welcome our new Postdoctoral Fellow, Pascal Hagolani, to the KLI. Pascal is an evolutionary biologist with a robust computational background, focused on advancing our understanding of complex biological systems. He received his undergraduate degree in Biology in 2013 at the Universidad de Granada, Spain, and his PhD degree in 2021 from the University of Helsinki, Finland. Pascal has worked as a postdoc researcher at the École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France (2021–2024), and at the Gulf University for Science & Technology, Kuwait (2024–2025).

His research specializes in developing and applying algorithms to investigate morphogenesis and evolutionary dynamics. With expertise in simulation design, high-performance computing, and interdisciplinary collaboration, he addresses fundamental questions about the mechanisms driving biological diversity and complexity. At the KLI, Pascal will work on his project, “Urban Evolution”, aiming at 1) developing a comparative framework between urban and biological genotype-phenotype maps (GPMs), 2) creating computational models to investigate how cultural evolution shapes urban morphological variation, and 3) implementing novel computational methods to analyze and model urban evolutionary dynamics. His research includes conducting morphometric analysis of urban form and exploring potential phylogenetic relationships between urban form taxa.