Position title: Two positions - Research Associate/Fellow - Bioinformatics

Employer: Curtin University - Centre for Crop & DIsease Management

Closing date: 16/8/2019

Brief position description: Location: Perth

Centre for Crop and Disease Management (CCDM)/School of Molecular and Life Sciences (MLS)

Fixed term, full time until 22 June 2022
$88,135 - $118,115 (ALA /ALB) plus 17% Superannuation
Curtin University is ranked in the top 1% of universities worldwide (ARWU 2018 and QS World University Rankings 2019), and is placed 20th in the world for universities less than 50 years old (QS Top 50 Under 50 2019). Curtin is WA’s most preferred university, with highly engaged industry-facing partners. A major global player, with well-integrated campuses in Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius and Dubai.

Centre for Crop and Disease Management (CCDM)
The Centre for Crop and Disease Management (CCDM) at Curtin University launched in April 2014 – a bilateral research agreement between the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and Curtin University. The CCDM is a major investment in research training, crop disease-focussed research activity and infrastructure. The Centre includes a new high quality research facility at Curtin, used for research and development to sustainably reduce the impact of important grain pathogens and ultimately, to provide solutions to reduce the impact of diseases on farm business resilience. The Centre’s activities integrate molecular sciences with field-based agronomy to generate new avenues to breed disease resistant germplasm and to assist farmers to sustainably utilise a full range of disease control options. The CCDM has three themes of activity with several projects in each theme. There is strong interdisciplinary collaboration within the Centre and active collaboration with leading national and international scientists.

These positions sit within Research Theme B and Research Theme C, respectively.

Research Theme B – Cereal Diseases
Theme B of the CCDM focusses on cereal disease research and targets a range of costly and complex diseases of wheat and barley. Yield and economic losses of both of these crops remain a significant issue for the Australian grains industry. Theme B conducts pre-breeding research using biochemical, genetic and ‘omic’ approaches to help breeders develop disease-resistant varieties as an effective, long-term solution to crop disease control. Our researchers also explore the interaction of pathogens during co-infection and the resulting host responses.

Research Theme C – Canola and Pulse Diseases
Theme C of the CCDM, focuses on research into ascochyta blight of pulses and sclerotinia stem rot of canola and pulses. The successful candidate will work across projects involving the pathogens Ascochyta rabiei and Ascochyta lentis which infect chickpea and lentils, respectively, to identify sources of resistance and will develop links and work closely with breeding entities to ensure successful uptake and deployment of the identified sources of resistance in breeding programs. The successful candidate would also work closely with the broader CCDM bioinformatics team and Theme C colleagues to identify and characterize candidate effector genes of Ascochyta species. The successful candidate will present their research to colleagues in the centre and the field of research, as well as communicate their research to agronomists, growers and breeders.

Your new role
This rare opportunity is to work in a dynamic team of researchers to substantially improve yield stability for Australian grain growers.
These positions will be based at Bentley Campus, Perth Western Australia embedded with the School of Molecular and Life Sciences. The position will involve engaging with collaborators, industry partners both locally and internationally and developing funding proposals. This role may require some teaching activities.

What we offer you
The Faculty of Science and Engineering offers exciting career paths and trajectories including
conducting innovative work that will make real-world difference
interactions with and learnings from industry, government and academic partners
international recognition
Curtin University offers a competitive remuneration and benefits package, a friendly and collaborative work environment, generous leave entitlements, flexible working arrangements, a relocation allowance, generous superannuation, salary-packaging arrangements including childcare, and the potential to support dual-career arrangements.

What we need from you
You are encouraged to respond specifically to the selection criteria:
Essential selection criteria:
Demonstrated ability to conduct innovative research in bioinformatics and/or computational biology
Demonstrated ability to develop experimental plans and pursue novel research approaches.
Ability to work with a broad range of people from varying research backgrounds and evidence of strong oral and written communication skills
Demonstrated commitment to publish the results of research in scientific journals.
Demonstrated ability to work independently under minimal supervision while contributing to overall team performance and proven ability to meet performance deadlines during the course of the project.
Preference will be given to applicants with desirable skills that include:
Experience with plant genetics and the development/utilization of mapping populations
Experience with the analysis of genomic and transcriptomic datasets
Experience with the identification and characterization of candidate fungal effector genes.

Job website: http://staff.curtin.edu.au/job-vacancies/?ja-job=49889

Contact name: Jo Monaghan

Contact email: CCDMAdmin@curtin.edu.au