Senior Researcher in Secondary Metabolite Bioinformatics

We are seeking a highly motivated Senior Researcher to join our international team at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability (DTU Biosustain), Technical University of Denmark, and become part of the Natural Products Genome Mining group headed by Prof. Tilmann Weber.

The possibility of using genomic and other ‘omics data to identify and characterize the biosynthetic pathways of secondary metabolites is currently transforming the field of Natural Product Research. You will be working at the forefront of this transformation by developing bioinformatics tools and databases to analyse these omics datasets and integrate them with the experimental data generated by our own group and our international cooperation network.

Are you our new colleague interested to contributing to find the next generation of antibiotics from actinomycetes by leveraging your bioinformatics excellence and lead the genome mining team in the Natural Products Genome Mining research group?

Responsibilities and qualifications
You will take a key role in the development of software and databases developed by the group and ensure their integration with the experimental scientists working in the Natural Products Genome Mining group and in the DTU Biosustain “Streptomyces” program.

You and your team will drive forward the development of our antiSMASH genome mining pipeline, the antiSMASH database and the MIBiG infrastructure, which all are hosted at DTU.

For this task it is essential that you have

• documented scientific track record in the field of secondary metabolite genome mining
• extensive knowledge of secondary metabolite biosynthesis
• experience/knowledge in actinomycete biology and metabolic engineering
• Documented experience to coordinate and work in large international collaborative software projects
• Experience in designing and implementing large, distributed software systems
• Excellent python and shell programming skills
• Knowledge and experience in using software testing frameworks
• Knowledge of modern web-technologies.

With your expertise, you will contribute to integrate the secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene cluster data to the other data resources of DTU Biosustain.

You enjoy you to engage in collaborative efforts of the central DTU Biosustain software engineering team, our Genome Analytics group and build-up a network with other colleagues at DTU working in computational biology.

Although the key tasks of this position are research related, you enjoy teaching the next generation of scientists in the field of Natural Products genome mining, bioinformatics and software engineering and participate in DTU Biosustain’s teaching activities and develop them further.

On the personal side

• You are driven by pushing boundaries and enjoy working with complex topics
• You thrive on excellence, (international) collaboration and teamwork
• You are eager for disseminating your research to different peer-groups in research papers, conference proceedings and other outreach activities
• You enjoy working in an international and multi-disciplinary environment and interact with scientists from different fields

As a formal qualification you must hold a PhD degree (or equivalent) as well as academic qualifications equivalent to those obtained by holding a position as a researcher or postdoc. To be appointed as a senior researcher, you must have completed a didactic/pedagogic education. If you do not have the necessary education, then it is possible to complete this requirement within a period of two years of appointment.

You will be assessed against the responsibilities and qualifications stated above and the following general criteria:

• Research experience
• Experience and quality of teaching
• Research vision and potential
• International impact and experience
• Societal impact
• Innovativeness, including commercialization and collaboration with industry
• Leadership, collaboration, and interdisciplinary skills
• Communication skills

Salary and terms of employment
The appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. The salary for the position will be determined by the applicant’s qualifications and in agreement with the relevant union. Further information on qualification requirements and job content may be found in the Ministerial Order on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities .

You can read more about career paths at DTU here .

Further information
Further information may be obtained from Prof. Tilmann Weber, email: [email protected]

You can read more about DTU Biosustain at www.biosustain.dtu.dk

If you are applying from abroad, you may find useful information on working in Denmark and at DTU at DTU – Moving to Denmark .

Application procedure
Please submit your online application no later than 6 September 2021 (Danish time).

Applications must be submitted as one PDF file containing all materials to be given consideration. To apply, please open the link "Apply online", fill out the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one PDF file. The file must include:

• Application (cover letter)
• Vision for research, with a focus on the “Assessment” bullet points listed above
• CV including employment history, list of publications indicating scientific highlights, H-index and ORCID (see http://orcid.org/ )
• Academic Diplomas (MSc/PhD)
• Teaching portfolio including documentation of teaching experience
• Optional: Documentation of previous software engineering expertise (GitHub repositories, etc.)

Please be aware that only applications received via the online system before the deadline will be considered.

You can learn more about the recruitment process here .

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, race, disability, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability (DTU Biosustain)
Recent progress in our ability to read and write genomic code, combined with advances in automation, analytics and data science, has fundamentally changed the scope and ambition of harnessing the potential of biological systems. Big data approaches and analysis of biological systems are key research instruments at the Center. DTU Biosustain utilizes these advances for microbial cell factory design to foster sustainable lifestyles in relation to three application areas: Sustainable Chemicals, Natural Products, and Microbial Foods.

Technology for people
DTU develops technology for people. With our international elite research and study programmes, we are helping to create a better world and to solve the global challenges formulated in the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Hans Christian Ørsted founded DTU in 1829 with a clear vision to develop and create value using science and engineering to benefit society. That vision lives on today. DTU has 12,900 students and 6,000 employees. We work in an international atmosphere and have an inclusive, evolving, and informal working environment. DTU has campuses in all parts of Denmark and in Greenland, and we collaborate with the best universities around the world.