Postdoctoral research fellow - Bioinformatics (University of Cork)

A colleague has asked me to post up this interesting sounding post-doc position.

A position is available for a Postdoctoral Research fellow to work in the area of microbial metagenomics. The appointee will analyze data gathered from a large multi-centre study on the relationship between the intestinal microbiota and health in elderly people, specifically by analyzing compositional and functional bacterial microbiome data. The study includes researchers from University College Cork, Cork University Hospital and Teagasc Moorepark and will exploit cutting edge metagenomics and clinical analysis of diverse health indices in a large cohort of elderly subjects, including unique longitudinal measurements. The appointee will be based in UCC and will report to Dr. Paul O’Toole, Department of Microbiology.

The post would be suitable for a bioinformatician with a strong background in genome sequence analysis, sequence alignment, clustering analysis and related programming. The project will involve analysis of microbial community composition datasets (SSU rRNA genes amplicons) generated by HT next-generation sequencing methodologies [1]. There will also be the opportunity to work with shot-gun metagenomic datasets. This is a full-time fixed term contract appointment, at a position on the CHIU Senior Postdoctoral salary scale reflective of experience.

Please send

1. A letter of introduction stating why you would be suitable for the position.
2. Your CV, including contact details and e-mail addresses for two people willing to provide a reference letter.

Deadline for applications is: 17:00, Friday November 20th, 2009.

Only those candidates considered suitable for the post will be informed by return email. Candidates considered suitable for the post must be available for interview. Please send covering letter and CV to Dr. Paul O’Toole, Department of Microbiology UCC (pwotoole@ucc.ie; 021 490 3997).

1. Claesson, M.J., et al., Comparative analysis of pyrosequencing and a phylogenetic microarray for exploring microbial community structures in the human distal intestine. PLoS One, 2009. 4(8): p. e6669.