Employer: The University of Melbourne

Closing date: 10th June 2019

Brief position description: We are seeking a highly motivated post-doctoral researcher to join the research program of A/Prof Laura Mackay within the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Doherty Institute (https://www.doherty.edu.au/people/associate-professor-laura-mackay). The Mackay Lab aims to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the generation of protective T cell immunity, with a view to develop new therapeutic strategies designed to harness immune cells to protect against infection and cancer.

The position requires a driven computational scientist with an interest in biological discovery. The researcher will lead projects that will involve the analyses of high-throughput sequencing datasets (e.g. RNA-seq and scRNA-seq) generated from pre-clinical models in the Mackay Lab and from patient cohorts. We are interested in the use of computational approaches to drive biological discovery and develop methods and software for the analysis of data produced by modern sequencing technologies. This position will be jointly mentored by Prof Terry Speed and Dr Heejung Shim. Prof Speed is a world-renowned statistician and a pioneer in the field of bioinformatics, with a Laboratory at the Walter and Eliza Hall of Medical Research (https://www.wehi.edu.au/people/terry-speed). Dr Shim is part of the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Integrative Genomics. Dr Shim is well known for her creative approaches to analysing next generation sequencing data (https://heejungshim.org).

The applicant should have a PhD in computer science, bioinformatics or another relevant discipline. Previous experience in genetics, genomics, computational biology or bioinformatics is essential and strong programming skills are required. Researchers are expected to be self-motivated and to operate with minimal supervision under the general direction of the Laboratory Head and provide increasing input on scientific direction of their projects. The appointee will also be expected to contribute to collaborative research projects and will have the opportunity to present data at meetings and contribute to research training of students and junior staff.

Job website: http://jobs.unimelb.edu.au/caw/en/job/899597/research-officer-computational-science

Contact name: Laura Mackay

Contact email: lkmackay@unimelb.edu.au