Special Scientist (Research Assistant) , Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus

The University of Cyprus (www.ucy.ac.cy ) invites applications for one (1) part time Special Scientist – Research Assistant. The successful candidate will support fundamental research as part of a funded project from the Cyprus Research & Innovation Foundation (RIF). They will be working in the Bioinformatics Research Laboratory (BRL; http://troodos.biol.ucy.ac.cy/ ) within the Department of Biological Sciences, under the supervision of Dr. Vasilis Promponas, and will collaborate closely with researchers from the Medical School of the University of Crete, as well as with our network of collaborators on the topic of selective autophagy.

Note: Candidates need not be citizens of the Republic of Cyprus.

Required qualifications:

The successful candidate is expected to have: " MSc in Bioinformatics/Computational Biology. Candidates with an MSc in related disciplines (e.g. Computer Science) combined with working experience in Bioinformatics/Computational Biology research are also welcome to apply. " Promising academic record and be a highly motivated individual with interest in a long-term career in research. " Previous experience in developing scientific software (including web applications and databases) will be considered an advantage. " Understanding of concepts in molecular cell biology, including molecular evolution, principles of protein structure and interactions. Experience in eukaryotic systems is a plus. " Excellent time management, communication and organizational skills. " Proficiency in English, including technical writing skills (e.g. software documentation, user/admin manual preparation). " Publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals and conferences will be considered a great advantage.

Technical skills:

" Proficiency in programming in at least one high-level programming language (e.g. C/C++, Perl, Python). " Experience in system and database administration in small to medium compute systems. " Web and database programming experience (e.g. REACT, Flask, FASTapi, REST, PostgreSQL/MySQL). " Experience in automated testing in software development (e.g. Unit Tests, Integration Tests, etc.) " Working experience with containerisation, High Performance Computing. " Experience with relevant data types and resources (including protein sequences and structures, genomic/proteomic data resources etc). " Knowledge of applying Statistical, Machine/Deep Learning methods for developing/validating/testing prediction models in Bioinformatics. " Being familiar with FAIR data principles and technologies such as Biomedical Text Mining, DevOps is a plus.

Duties and Responsibilities :

The successful candidate will have a key supporting role in a research team working towards developing (i) a comprehensive, user-friendly data portal offering integrated access to community- driven, high-quality, experimentally derived information regarding LIR-motif::LC3 interactions and (ii) improved bioinformatics tools for characterisation and cataloguing of novel selective autophagy receptor/adaptor/scaffold proteins. The successful candidate is expected to conduct high-quality research and be very open to collaboration with other members of the BRL and project partners. They will (a) implement computational resources for selective autophagy research, (b) support project management (including the preparation and submission of project reports), and (c) contribute to dissemination activities (including drafting manuscripts, participating in meetings and conferences abroad). Optionally, they can participate in training junior researchers and in preparation of relevant grant proposals.