PhD Student Position – Bioinformatic analysis of long-read sequences

Updated: over 2 years ago
Deadline: 15 Dec 2021

The Institute

The Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG-CRG) is one of the largest Genome Sequencing Centers in Europe. CNAG-CRG researchers participate in major International Genomic Initiatives such as the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), the International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC), the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) and the European Infrastructure for life-science information (ELIXIR), as well as in several EU-funded projects.

It is integrated with the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), an international biomedical research institute of excellence, based in Barcelona, Spain, with more than 400 scientists from 44 countries. The CRG is composed by an interdisciplinary, motivated and creative scientific team which is supported both by a flexible and efficient administration and by high-end and innovative technologies.

In April 2021, the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) received the renewal of the 'HR Excellence in Research ' logo from the European Commission. This is a recognition of the Institute's commitment to developing an HR Strategy for Researchers, designed to bring the practices and procedures in line with the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers (Charter and Code).

Please, check out our Recruitment Policy

The role

We have an opening for a PhD student through the EU-funded ERC-Synergy project BCLL@las . The BCLL@las project aims to make significant advance on the understanding of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) by applying multi-omic single-cell characterisation of B-cells before and throughout the course of this disease. The topics for the PhD student positions include the development of bioinformatic methods to analyse single-molecule long-read sequencing data. We are looking for highly motivated and creative thinking individual who is interested in working in an environment where the technical sophistication of single-cell and single-molecule analysis technology meets innovative approaches for interpreting data and generating new knowledge.

About the lab

The PhD candidate will be integrated into the BCLL@las project of the Biomedical Genomics Group led by Dr. Ivo Gut and the Single-Cell Genomics Team Lead by Dr. Holger Heyn.

Dr. Ivo Gut is the CNAG-CRG director and head of the Biomedical Genomics group. He coordinates the BCLL@las project and the European Advanced Sequencing Infrastructure project (EASI-Genomics), funded by the European Commission. Dr. Ivo Gut participates in H2020 projects B-CAST, SPIDIA-4P, ELIXIR-ACCELERATE, SOLVE-RD, EJP-RD and EuCanCan. In addition, the CNAG-CRG participates in major Spanish initiatives in Personalized Medicine such as the PERIS projects MedPERCAN and URDCat, the 1,000 Catalan Genomes project, and the Navarra project on personalized medicine.

The Biomedical Genomics Group focusses on furthering the understanding of diseases using different types of genomic data, novel statistical approaches and bioinformatics. Big data approaches are used to identify patterns on genome, transcriptome and epigenome level that correlate with a disease and the evolution across the course of the disease. The objective is to answer questions that go beyond the initial hypotheses that underlie the studies to shed light on how genome sequence, structure and usage relates to disease, disease initiation, disease progression and disease mechanisms. The group also studies genomic features related to disease at different cellular levels. The disease areas range from rare to common disorders and cancer. Web: https://www.cnag.crg.eu/teams/genome-research-unit/biomedical-genomics-group

Whom would we like to hire?

Professional experience

Must Have

• You are competent in Python, Perl or R
• You have good knowledge of Computational Biology
• You have experience working with remote distributed job systems (e.g. Slurm)

Desirable but not required/ Nice to have

• You have experience in single-cell analysis
• You have experience with long-read sequence analysis

Education and training

• You hold a Master’s degree in Bioinformatics, Mathematics, Statistics or similar.

Languages

• You are proficient in English

Technical skills

• You have advanced skills in coding

Competences

• You have highly developed organization skills

The Offer – Working Conditions

Contract duration: 4 years PhD position.
• Estimated annual gross salary: Salary is commensurate with qualifications and consistent with our pay scales.
• Target start date: Beginning of January 2022.

We provide a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructures, and unique professional career development opportunities. To check out our training and development portfolio, please visit our website in the training section.

We offer and promote a diverse and inclusive environment and welcomes applicants regardless of age, disability, gender, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.

The CRG is committed to reconcile a work and family life of its employees and are offering extended vacation period and the possibility to benefit from flexible working hours.

Application Procedure

All applications must include:

1. A motivation letter addressed to Dr. Ivo Gut.
2. A complete CV including contact details.
3. Contact details of two referees.

All applications must be addressed to Dr. Ivo Gut and be submitted online on the "Apply" button below.

Selection Process

₋ Pre-selection: The pre-selection process will be based on qualifications and expertise reflected on the candidates CVs. It will be merit-based.

₋ Interview: Preselected candidates will be interviewed by the Hiring Manager of the position and a selection panel if required.

₋ Offer Letter: Once the successful candidate is identified the Human Resources department will send a Job Offer, specifying the start day, salary, working conditions, among other important details.

Deadline: Please submit your application by December 15th, 2021.

Suggestions: The CRG believes in ongoing improvement and promotes a culture of feedback. This is one of the reasons we have in place, at your disposal as a candidate, a mechanism to gather your suggestions/complaints concerning your candidate experience in our recruitment processes. Your feedback really matters to us in our aim at creating a positive candidate journey. You can make a difference and help us improve by letting us know your suggestions through the following form.



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