Pavel Flegontov

Pavel Flegontov, Ph.D. is a researcher at the Department of Biology and Ecology within the Faculty of Science at the University of Ostrava. He specializes in population genetics, archaeogenetics, and genomic analysis with a particular focus on human evolutionary history across Eurasia and Southeast Asia. His research integrates ancient DNA analysis with computational methods to reconstruct population histories and migration patterns.

Dr. Flegontov's primary research interests center on population genetics and human evolutionary history, with significant contributions to understanding the genetic history of Eurasian and Southeast Asian populations. His work employs advanced statistical methods including f-statistics and qpAdm modeling to analyze genetic admixture events. He has made important contributions to studies of Indo-European origins, Kra-Dai speakers in Thailand, and South Asian genetic influences in Southeast Asia, demonstrating expertise in connecting genetic data with historical and linguistic evidence.

His publication record shows a strong trend toward increasingly sophisticated methods for analyzing complex population histories, with recent work focusing on methodological limitations and improvements in genetic admixture analysis. His research spans both human population genetics and marine microbial ecology, reflecting interdisciplinary approaches to evolutionary questions. The consistent publication in high-impact journals like Nature, Science, and PLOS Genetics demonstrates significant contributions to the field.

Dr. Flegontov serves as principal investigator for multiple research grants, including projects funded by the Czech Science Foundation (GA ČR) and the Czech Academy of Sciences (GA AV). His current projects include "Archeogenetic perspective on the spread of Slavs in the first millennium AD" (2025-2027) and previously led "Genomic formation of Indo-Europeans: new approaches to modeling genetic admixture guided by simulated data" (2021-2024). He has also collaborated with Harvard University on subcontract research agreements.

He teaches courses in genome analysis (WGEAN, 7GEAN, 8GEAN) and has supervised doctoral research, including Nefize Ezgi Altinişik's 2019 dissertation on the connection between America and Eurasia: Population history of people in the American Arctic. His work demonstrates strong mentorship in training the next generation of population geneticists.