Tom Williams is a Professor in the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Bath, where he conducts cutting-edge research in computational evolutionary biology. His work focuses on understanding the history of life and evolutionary processes through phylogenetics, comparative genomics, and bioinformatics approaches. Williams' research interests span several interconnected areas in evolutionary biology. He investigates the structure of the "tree of life," the phylogenetic position of eukaryotic cells, and the origin of eukaryotes including their archaeal and bacterial ancestry. His work also examines the nature of early life forms (including LUCA - the common ancestor of all life), the course of metabolic evolution, and co-evolutionary relationships among microbes. His research contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to environmental protection and scientific understanding. His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on microbial evolution, particularly examining bacterial and archaeal lineages, the evolution of metabolic pathways, and the genomic basis of evolutionary adaptations. Williams employs computational approaches to analyze large-scale biological datasets, contributing to our understanding of life's history from deep time to the present. Williams actively supervises doctoral students and appears to be engaged in significant collaborative research projects across international boundaries, as evidenced by his extensive publication record and diverse co-author networks.
