Postdoctoral Fellow- Computational Biology

PDF Salary range: £30655 to £38428 per annum plus excellent benefits.

Fixed-term for 3 years

Are you ready to develop and apply cutting-edge single cell analytical tools? Interested in solving the enigmas of thymic epithelial cell biology?

We are looking for an enthusiastic, highly motivated Postdoctoral Fellows who will develop their career by contributing to our study and joining a team of internationally renowned researchers at the Sanger-EBI Single Cell Genomics Centre, investigating the fascinating properties of thymic epithelial cells (TEC).

TEC are unique because they express almost the complete set of protein-coding genes. Single cell approaches are only now able to answer important questions central to a molecular understanding of this promiscuous gene expression (PGE) in TEC. The planned research programme will use unbiased genome-wide transcriptome and epigenome, and selected protein expression analyses at single cell resolution to map intracellular and population-wide expression landscapes. This project is funded by a Wellcome Trust Strategic Award ("The Homunculus in our Thymus: A Cellular Genomics Approach", PIs G. Holländer and C. Ponting).

The candidate will be a highly talented postdoctoral fellow with strong statistical and/or analytical skills. Excellent knowledge of current issues in single cell data generation and analysis along with understanding of statistical theory is a must.

This position offers scope for the development of new single cell transcriptomic analytical approaches as well as application of these methods to questions directly relevant to TEC biology.

Essential Skills

- A PhD in Genomics, Genetics, Computational Biology (or similar), and a passion for problem solving
- An understanding, experience and published outcomes from analysing and interpreting large datasets using at least one statistical package (e.g. R/SPLUS, SAS) and experience in programming (e.g. Perl, Python, C++, Java)
- Excellent written and spoken English are essential and the ability to effectively communicate with collaborators and occasionally present oral communication to large groups
- Proven independent working style, technical problem solving, data analysis and generation of novel ideas

Ideal Skills

- Extensive programming experience and computational analysis of next generation sequence data
- Good experience with (single-cell) DNA- and RNA-seq analytical approaches
- Appreciation of current bioinformatics/computational approaches
- Experience in supervising and training other laboratory personnel in specialized techniques and presenting results at scientific conferences [posters and talks]
- Training in statistical methods appropriate for biological research and experience in genomics approaches and in method development would be advantageous

Other information

As a world leader in human genomics, genome informatics, and whole genome DNA sequencing, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (WTSI) is now focusing large-scale genotyping, DNA sequencing, and mathematical analysis on illuminating the biology of different cell types.

Postdoctoral Fellows are typically in their first or second postdoctoral position as part of a period of early career research training. The post is a three year fixed-term contract.

The Sanger Institute is a charitably funded research centre that applies the power of genomics to uncover the basis of genetic and infectious disease. We conduct science at a scale and speed that sets our research apart. Our passion is to provide results that can be translated into diagnostics, treatments or therapies that reduce global health burdens.

Please include a covering letter and CV with your application.

Closing date for applications: 3rd December 2015, however applications will be considered and reviewed on an on-going basis and therefore the post may be filled before the deadline