Postdoctoral Research Assistant

About the Role

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Assistant (PDRA) to work at the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences (SBBS) in the research group of Dr. Mario dos Reis, as part of a BBSRC project on development of Bayesian methods to analyse large genomic datasets. We seek a highly motivated individual with relevant background in statistics/physics/computational biology. The successful candidate will contribute to real data analyses and to the development of Bayesian MCMC algorithms in the MCMCtree software and associated R packages.  We are interested in Hamiltonian Monte Carlo and covariance-informed MCMC samplers. The project is a collaboration with Prof. Ziheng Yang (UCL) and Prof. Philip C. J. Donoghue (Bristol University).

About You

A PhD in a subject relevant to the project is essential.  This is an integrative project and relevant subject areas include computational biology, bioinformatics, physics, statistics, computer science and related.  Experience of code development in a major programming language (such as C, C++ or Java) is essential.  Experience of phylogenetics software development, use of high-performance computing facilities, evolutionary biology, MCMC sampling algorithms, and genome data analysis are desirable but not essential.

You should have excellent communication skills, with the ability to present your research findings both orally and in writing. You must have excellent time management skills, and the ability to complete large tasks on a schedule.  The project is highly collaborative, and you are expected to work well within a team, and have the ability to deliver production-ready software for use by other team members.

About the School

As a member of the dos Reis group (https://dosreislab.github.io) you will be part of a dynamic research community at SBBS (https://www.qmul.ac.uk/sbbs/).  The school employs circa 120 academics working in evolutionary biology, genomics, cell biology, ecology, and experimental psychology.

About Queen Mary

At Queen Mary University of London, we believe that a diversity of ideas helps us achieve the previously unthinkable.

Throughout our history, we’ve fostered social justice and improved lives through academic excellence. And we continue to live and breathe this spirit today, not because it’s simply ‘the right thing to do’ but for what it helps us achieve and the intellectual brilliance it delivers.

Our reformer heritage informs our conviction that great ideas can and should come from anywhere. It’s an approach that has brought results across the globe, from the communities of east London to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.

We continue to embrace diversity of thought and opinion in everything we do, in the belief that when views collide, disciplines interact, and perspectives intersect, truly original thought takes form.

Benefits

In return, we offer 30 days’ leave per annum, access to a pension scheme, a season ticket loan scheme and competitive salaries. We also offer enhanced family friendly leave, and an on-site nursery at the Mile End campus. You will also work with a friendly team, with personal development opportunities.

Queen Mary’s commitment to our diverse and inclusive community is embedded in our appointments processes. Reasonable adjustments will be made at each stage of the recruitment process for any candidate with a disability.

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