Research interest

My greatest scientific interest is in the mathematical modeling of biological processes. I seek to understand underlying mechanisms and dependencies in complex biological problems, ranging from the evolution of social behavior through the evolution of antimicrobial resistance to the adaptation in a changing environment. 

Education

2017 - 2018  Institute of Science and Technology Austria. Postdoctoral researcher, MSC Individual Fellowship, project RACE:  Rate of adaptation in a changing environment.

2014 - 2016  Institute of Science and Technology Austria. Postdoctoral researcher, project SAGE:  Speed of adaptation in population genetics and evolutionary computations.

2009 - 2014   PhD in Computational and evolutionary biology, The University of Manchester. Evolutionary consequences of social interactions.  Supervisor: Dr Reinmar Hager.

2007 - 2009   Biophysics, Comenius University, Bratislava. Simulation of magnetic particles in a magnetic field. Awarded Dean's prize. Supervisor: Prof. Peter Babinec. Graduated `with honors'. 

Outreach and other projects

Correspondence seminar and competition for high school students

Together with Himani Sachdeva, Kristina Hudakova and in collaboration with IST Austria, we are running a correspondence seminar and competition for high school students in Slovakia called  Selected Topics in Evolutionary Biology . Please check out  our website  for more information. 

Evolutionary activities for high school students

Together with Kristina Hudakova, we created a  collection of evolution related activities  suitable for high school students. The collection aims to promote awareness of the basic concepts of evolution and facilitate a better understanding of a wide range of topics in biology. The activities can be used directly in classes, seminars, or at home. They cover a variety of topics and have various time requirements, from short reading activities to plant-growing projects spanning multiple weeks. Each activity consists of teaching notes and printable student sheets and materials, and can be incorporated into the classroom with little extra effort from the instructor. 

The complete Slovak version created with support from ESEB can be found  here . 

The shortened German version, supported by IST Austria, can be found  here . 

Publications:

• B Trubenová, D Roizman, A Moter, J Rolff, RR Regoes (2022): Population genetics, biofilm recalcitrance, and antibiotic resistance evolution.  Trends in Microbiology 30 (9)
• Trubenová, D Roizman, J Rolff, RR Regoes (2022): Modelling polygenic antibiotic resistance evolution in biofilms. Frontiers in microbiology
• Szep, E., Trubenova, B. and Csillery, K..(2022): Using gridCoal to assess whether standard population genetic theory holds in the presence of spatio‐temporal heterogeneity in population size. Mol Ecol Res 22 (8)
• Trubenova, B. and Hager, R.(2019): Green beards in the light of indirect genetic effects. Ecol Evol .: 00, 1-12.
• Trubenova, B., Krejca, MS, Lehre, PK, Kotzing, T. (2019): Surfing on the seascape: Adaptation in a changing environment. Evolution: 73, 1356-1374.
• Oliveto, PS, Paixao, T., Perez-Heredia, J., Sudholt, D., and Trubenova, B. (2017): How to Escape Local Optima in Black Box Optimization: When Non-Elitism Outperforms Elitism. Algorithmica.
• Perez-Heredia, J., Trubenova, B., Sudholt, D., and Paixao, T. (2016): Selection limits to adaptive walks on correlated landscapes. Genetics. 
• Paixao, T., Perez-Heredia, J., Sudholt, D., and Trubenova, B. (2016): First Steps Towards a Runtime Comparison of Natural and Artificial Evolution. Algorithmica.
• Oliveto, PS Paixao, T., Perez-Heredia, J., Sudholt, D., and Trubenova, B. (2016): When Non-Elitism Outperforms Elitism for Crossing Fitness Valleys. GECCO 2016 Proceedings. ACM Press. Invited for a special issue in Algorithmica
• Paixao, T., Badkobeh G., Barton, N., Corus, D., Dang, D., Friedrich, T., Lehre, PK, Sudholt, D., Sutton, AM and Trubenova, B. (2015): Toward a unifying framework for evolutionary processes. Journal of Theoretical Biology: 383
• Paixao, T., Perez-Heredia, J., Sudholt, D., and Trubenova, B. (2015): First Steps Towards a Runtime Comparison of Natural and Artificial Evolution. GECCO 2015 Proceedings. ACM Press
• Trubenova, B., Novak, S. and Hager, R. (2015): Indirect genetic effects: Dynamics of interactions. PLOS ONE: 10 (5), e0126907
• Shimizu, H., Woodcock, SA, Wilkin, MB, Trubenova, B., Monk, NAM, and Baron, M. (2014): Compensatory flux changes within an endocytic trafficking network maintain thermal robustness of Notch signaling. Cell: 157 (5) 1160-74
• Trubenova, B. and Hager, R. (2014): Social selection and indirect genetic effects in structured populations. Evolutionary Biology: 41 (1). 123-133.
• Trubenova, B. and Hager, R. (2012): Phenotypic and evolutionary consequences of social behaviors: Interactions among individuals affect direct genetic effects. PLOS ONE: 7 (10), e476640.
• Trubenova, B. and Hager, R. (2012): Reproductive skew theory. Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. 1-9. Chichester: Wiley.