Position title: Postdoctoral Research Associate in Statistical Bioinformatics
Employer: The University of Sydney
Closing date: 6 February 2023
Brief position description:
• Full time 18 month fixed term, located on the Camperdown Campus at the School of Mathematics and Statistics
• Opportunity to make valuable contributions to research in statistical bioinformatics and biomedical data science
• Base Salary Level A $97,043 p.a. - $100,717 p.a. + 17% superannuation
About the opportunity
We are one of the largest mathematical sciences schools in Australia, and the University of Sydney is the only Australian university to have received the highest rating of 5 out of 5 for research in the mathematical sciences in every Australian Research Council Excellence in Research for Australia assessment to date. The University also hosts the Sydney Mathematical Research Institute (SMRI), which attracts leading mathematical scientists from all over the world to do research with Australian collaborators.
We are seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Associate to work on a project entitled ‘Multiscale data integration for single cell spatial genomics’. The successful candidate will work under the supervision of Dr Shila Ghazanfar on developing new statistical and algorithmic techniques to understand single cell spatial genomics data. This project has recently been funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
Technological advances in measuring gene expression in a spatially resolved manner have resulted in several tour-de-force publicly available datasets, often accompanied by sample-matched dissociated single cell RNA-seq or single cell multi-omic measurements. However, many integrative data analysis tasks for spatial genomics are performed using tools designed with dissociated single cell RNA-seq data in mind, effectively ignoring the specific data structures of spatial genomics data. This project will develop new data science techniques for multiscale data integration of single cell spatial genomics, with applications in several collaborative contexts.
Your key responsibilities will be to:
• undertake research in statistical bioinformatics for single cell spatial genomics
• publish research papers
• demonstrate research excellence
• assist with grant writing and publishing original work
• participate in research group meetings and other activities
• formulate and refine statistical and computational methods for single cell spatial genomics data integration
• develop software using the R language and contribute to Bioconductor.
The School of Mathematics and Statistics of the University of Sydney is one of the largest in Australia. It has more than 89 academic staff to supervise research and teaching 74 postgraduate students and 925 equivalent full-time student-load undergraduate students.
About you
The University values courage and creativity; openness and engagement; inclusion and diversity; and respect and integrity. As such, we see the importance of recruiting talent aligned to these values and are looking for a Postdoctoral Research Associate who has:
• a PhD (or near completion) in bioinformatics, data science, computer science, computational biology and equivalent combination of training and experience
• demonstrated ability to conduct research/scholarly activities under limited supervision
• the ability and a willingness to collaborate in multidisciplinary teams to contribute to long-term research goals
• a strong track record of publishing their research
• research strengths in state-of-the-art high dimensional analysis of complex data
• superior computer programming or software development skills in R or similar
• excellent communication (written and verbal), organisational and problem-solving skills with attention to detail
• a high level of interpersonal skills, including the ability to work collaboratively with colleagues
• a demonstrated ability to complete work in timely fashion and to write up results for publication.