Post-doc opportunity with Chris Quince!

Another job ad! I'll try and post some original content soon. This is an opportunity to post-doc with Chris Quince, one of the smartest mathematical modellers working on genome and metagenome data 'in the game' (and also my mentor). Apply now (after reading the job description) !

Research Associate
Bioinformatics for integrating polyomics data from synthetic microbial communities
University of Glasgow -School of Engineering

Ref: 004600

Salary: Grade 7, £32,267 - £36,298 per annum

The University of Glasgow is embarking on an ambitious 5-year project, funded by an EPSRC Frontier Engineering Award, to explore the application of Synthetic Biology to Water Engineering. Working with Dr Christopher Quince and Professor William T Sloan in the School of Engineering, you will contribute to the on-going world-leading University of Glasgow research initiatives in Synthetic Biology and Water Engineering by conducting research on the project: “Bioinformatics for integrating polyomics data from synthetic microbial communities”.

Metagenomics has transformed the study of environmental microbial communities. Through sequencing of the whole community genome it is possible to determine both what organisms are present and the functions they are capable of. However, numerous algorithmic and statistical challenges remain in the interpretation of this data. A key question is how to integrate it with other sources of ‘omics information for instance the metratranscriptome or the metabolome. Simple synthetic communities involved in anaerobic digestion provide an ideal test-bed for the development of such techniques as well as being of vital importance to our understanding of methanogenesis both in reactors and the human gut.

The post holder will develop statistics and software based on machine learning and Bayesian statistics for the integration of metagenomics and other sources of polyomics data. They will work closely with the experimental microbial ecologists running the synthetic community experiments. In addition, the tools and techniques developed will be applied to a range of other environments studied in our research group, spanning from soil to the human gut. This is a unique opportunity for an individual with a strong mathematics or computing background and a genuine interest in microbial ecology to establish themselves in the exciting and growing field of the microbiome.

This position has funding for up to 3 years in the first instance with a possible extension to 5 years.

Apply online by clicking on the Apply button below.

Closing date: 13 October 2013

The University is committed to equality of opportunity in employment. The University of Glasgow, charity number SC004401.