Custom Solutions for Evolutionary Genomic Research

With nearly two decades of experience in analyzing population genomic data, I offer expert support in data analysis, method development, simulations, grant writing, and manuscript revision.

My services provide a flexible, cost-effective alternative to hiring a full-time postdoc—ideal for short-term, time-sensitive, or technically challenging projects that require high-level expertise without long-term commitment.

Business Plan

The idea behind Genome Insights—and the services I provide—is the result of years of postdoctoral experience. The core motivation is simple: if I had access to a service like this in my early career, it would not only have resulted in higher quality research but also saved me and my research groups months of work.

Over the years, many of my most successful publications were made possible through methodological innovations I introduced. These contributions often unlocked insights that standard analytical approaches couldn’t provide. In contrast to being a postdoc, through this company I can:

  • Be flexible to work for any research group or company,
  • Exploring and analyzing population genomic data to,
  • Find the best angles for highest quality evolutionary genomics research

A key benefit of outsourcing analyses to me—rather than hiring a postdoc—is efficiency and cost transparency:

  • No university overhead, pension, or social security payments (which can add to up to 100% in some countries).
  • You only pay for the time I work—not for teaching, administration, or unrelated tasks.
  • Just like outsourcing sequencing to an external facility, outsourcing data analysis can be significantly more efficient and cost-effective than doing it in-house.

 

Who am I?

My name is Petri Kemppainen and I began my scientific career in 2004 as a PhD student in marine biology, studying local adaptation in the marine periwinkles off the west coast of Sweden. Back then, I relied on “old-school” molecular techniques such as microsatellites, Sanger sequencing, and allozymes.

Since then, I’ve built a diverse research portfolio over more than 15 years, working with over ten research groups across six countries and two continents. My work has spanned a wide range of topics—from detecting range expansions from asymmetries in allelic site frequency spectra and studying the evolutionary consequences of size selective fishing using Approximate Bayesian Computation—to the development of Linkage Disequilibrium network analyses (LDna) used to study evolutionary genetic processes such as local adaptation, inversion polymorphism, sex determination and epistatic interactions.

Early in my postdoctoral career, I was often the only member of my research group with a knowledge of analyzing genomic data—surrounded mostly by population geneticists and ecologists. This meant that I had to quickly learn new methods through trial and error, often seeking help from external collaborators to design appropriate analyses.

As a junior postdoc, it sometimes took me considerable time to figure out how to best analyze the data. This was often complicated by initial project plans—typically designed by ecologists—that didn’t always align with the experimental design or data structure. As a result, I frequently had to develop entirely new analytical strategies. These adaptations took time but nevertheless consistently led to high-quality publications, although they often diverged from what the host labs originally envisioned.

In many cases, mainstream methods also turned out to be flawed or inadequate for the questions at hand, and off-the-shelf tools simply didn’t exist. This is why so many of my publications (link) challenge previous methodologies and propose more suitable alternatives or develop entirely new analytical frameworks from scratch (such as LDna). This has thought me to be creative and not let the lack of prior research limit the questions we can ask with a given data set.

What Can I Do For You?

Consultation & Shorter Projects

I can typically assess and suggest analysis pipelines for most population genomic data within a day. From there, we can discuss:

  • What needs to be done?
  • Who will do it (e.g., myself, your students, or postdocs)?
  • Whether you’d prefer guidance, hands-on analysis, or both?

In most collaborations, my direct involvement ranges from a few days to 1–2 weeks, depending on the project’s complexity. Often, once the core strategy and workflows are established, in-house PhD students or post docs can complete the rest as first authors.

 

External Analyst

I can also serve as a high-level external analyst for longer projects. This is especially valuable for situations where hiring a postdoc isn’t feasible or efficient since even a senior postdoc often lacks the wide ranging competence and pipeline infrastructure I’ve developed over the last decade. This kind of service is likely to be most valuable e.g. for:

  • Time sensitive projects.

  • Complex projects analyzing problematic data.

  • Method development.
  • Simulations.

Retainer agreements are also available that guarantee a set number of hours per week or month of data analyses or consultation.

 

 

Grant Writing

As outlined in my background above, many grant proposals fail because the planned analyses are either unrealistic or incompatible with the experimental design. I’ve contributed to several successful grant applications by:

  • Providing critical feedback,

  • Writing technical sections related to population and evolutionary genomics,

  • Ensuring feasibility and rigor in the proposed analysis pipeline.

Bringing me in during the grant-writing stage can increase your chances of both securing funding and delivering on the promised goals. You can even budget for my consultation services directly in your grant proposal to ensure long-term analytical support.

Pricing

Pricing is flexible and will be determined in consideration of the research group’s overall financial circumstances and commitment. For inquiries, please contact me at petri@genomeinsights.fi.