Research Fellow in Bioinformatics

Job Description:

The School of Biological Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast, is currently seeking to appoint an exceptional candidate to the post of Research Fellow in Bioinformatics.   

The School of Biological Sciences and Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast is currently seeking to appoint an exceptional bioinformatician to the post of Research Fellow. The appointee will join the AMR & One Health Lab, a team of interdisciplinary researchers working in veterinary and human microbiology, animal science, and bioinformatics.   

The successful candidate will primarily work within a multidisciplinary team undertaking research focused on the impact of alternative nutrition management on AMR burden, transmission and trends in dairy cattle, as part of a BBSRC Canada IPAP funded project. The post holder will work with Dr. Renée Petri and project partners based at the Sherbrooke Research and Development Centre, Quebec, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, to understand dynamics in animal health, gut microbiome changes and antimicrobial resistance burden and transmission following a milk permeate feed intervention study of dairy cows in the transition period. They will also provide additional assistance in project work, developing a core outcome set related to assessing the impact of milk permeate supplementation on ruminal, faecal and milk microbiomes and immunity and evaluating the impact of permeate feeding on ARG burden and transmission in transition dairy cows.   

In general, the post holder will be an active member of the research project/team assisting in the planning and delivery of research activity within a BBSRC Funded UK-Canada International Partnering Award Plus Scheme. Priority will be given to candidates with research interests and expertise in bioinformatics, animal science and microbiology.   

The successful candidate must have, and your application should clearly demonstrate you have:

• Obtained or are about to obtain a PhD in a relevant area (biological sciences, microbiology, animal science veterinary science).
• At least 3 years’ demonstrable research experience in computational approaches for the analysis of high-throughput DNA sequencing data from microbial communities including shotgun metagenomic and 16S rDNA microbiome analysis.
• Experience in antimicrobial resistance surveillance and quantification research using genomic data.
• Demonstratable experience in the use of Linux command-line systems for bioinformatics analyses.
• Experience of using programming skills in appropriate languages and software e.g. R.
• Some experience of peer-reviewed publication in a relevant area of research.
• Some experience of supervising undergraduates and/or postgraduate students.  

Please note the above are not an exhaustive list. For further information about the role including the essential and desirable criteria, click on the 'Candidate Information' link below.  

This is a fixed term post for 12 months, or available until 30 June 2024, whichever is sooner. You must be available to start by 1 July 2023. Fixed term contract posts are available for the stated period in the first instance but in particular circumstances may be renewed or made permanent subject to availability of funding.   

At Queen’s our people are at the heart of everything we do. As a staff member you will become part of a vibrant organisational culture, which will provide you with the opportunity to achieve your full potential and enhance your career through a continuous focus on learning and development.   

We offer an excellent employment package that includes:

• Great terms & conditions
• Pension schemes
• Flexible working by enabling you to design your working week in collaboration with your manager through a blend of remote and office working                              
• Family-friendly initiatives
• Career development opportunities
• Support for health & mental wellbeing
• Generous holiday entitlement of 8.4 weeks a year (made up of 23 days annual leave, 10 closure days and 9 bank holidays)  

Queen’s University is committed to promoting equality of opportunity to all. We have created an inclusive culture by establishing staff networks such as iRise (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and International Staff Network) and PRISM (LGBTQ+) which help us progress equality.   

We also subscribe to Equality Charter Marks such as the Diversity Charter Mark NI in addition to Athena Swan. For further information on our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, please visit: www.qub.ac.uk/diversity ; www.qub.ac.uk/qgi  and www.qub.ac.uk/sites/StaffGateway/StaffNetworks/ .  

Informal enquiries may be directed to Professor Sharon Huws at [email protected] . 

Candidate Information
Attractive reward package
About the School
Further information for international applicants