Postdoc in Statistical Bioinformatics and Proteomics @ Melbourne

Employer: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

Closing date: 20 January 2020

Brief position description: An excellent opportunity exists for a talented postdoctoral Statistical Bioinformatician/Scientist to join the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in a joint appointment between the Colonial Foundation Healthy Ageing Centre (CFHAC) and the Bioinformatics Division.

About the position

The WEHI and the Royal Melbourne Hospital have come together to create the CFHAC to lead the complex change necessary to deliver the next generation diagnostics for ageing related disease within Victoria’s healthcare system. The newly founded Centre headed by Associate Professor Andrew Webb brings together clinicians, pathologists and researchers from hospitals and research centres to apply the latest knowledge and technologies to transform the clinical discovery process and rapidly translate discoveries into clinical utility.

The position will be part of the CFHAC and will be jointly supervised by Professor Gordon Smyth. The Smyth Lab develops statistical methodology and computational algorithms for analysing genomic and proteomic data, with a view to understanding gene expression patterns and gene regulatory mechanisms. WEHI’s bioinformatic division has an excellent international reputation and the Smyth Lab is well known for developing widely used bioinformatics methodology including limma, edgeR, csaw, diffHic and Rsubread.

The appointee will work closely with the Bioinformatics and CFHAC team to develop novel statistical bioinformatic methods for processing, interpreting and analysing large-scale proteomic datasets to facilitate biological discoveries related to ageing and disease. The appointee will particularly develop analysis pipelines appropriate for the latest time-of-flight mass spec technology and apply these pipelines in collaborations with the clinical partners of the CFHAC for implementation into clinical diagnostics.

The position would suit a PhD graduate in a relevant discipline such as statistics, mathematics, computer science, computational biology or genetics. The appointee will have solid mathematical training as well as strong programming and data analysis skills. Familiarity with statistical bioinformatics software such as R and Bioconductor would be an advantage. Prior experience in genomic or proteomics research is not essential, but the applicant must be highly motivated to work on problems in medical biology.

Terms of appointment

This position will be available for 2 years in a full-time capacity. Salary is Academic Level A (AUD90,053 - 96,661 per year, dependent upon qualifications and experience) for Research Officer, and Academic Level B (AUD101,756 - 120,828 per year, dependent upon qualifications and experience) for Senior Research Officer. Up to 17% superannuation and very attractive salary packaging options are available.

How to apply

Applications should include a cover letter, current resume, a document addressing the key selection criteria and contact details of three referees. Please email your application in PDF format to jobapplications@wehi.edu.au quoting reference WEHI/DAGS in the subject line if you wish to apply for the Research Officer (Level A) position or WEHI/DASRO if you wish to apply as a Senior Research Officer (Level B).

Job website: https://support.bioconductor.org/p/126114/

Contact name: Gordon Smyth

Contact email: smyth@wehi.edu.au