Research Assistant/Associate (Fixed Term)

Applications are invited for a Research Assistant/Associate position to work in the groups of Dr Felipe Karam Teixeira and Professor Richard Durbin at the Department of Genetics in central Cambridge.

The successful candidate will work on a Wellcome Trust-funded project that brings together the Karam Teixeira and Durbin groups to focus on dissecting how transposable elements shape the evolution of eukaryotic genomes. Dr Karam Teixeira's group uses Drosophila as a model to study transposable element biology, epigenetic regulation and inheritance, small RNA-based defence mechanisms, and germline biology in animals, while Prof Durbin's works on computational genomics and large scale genome science, including the development of new algorithms and statistical methods to study genome evolution. Moving forward, the labs are jointly building an interdisciplinary research team, which will combine large-scale experimental evolution studies and innovative computational methods, with the goal to uncover the breadth of transposon-derived variation and its role in functional genetic variation and genome evolution in animals.

A PhD in a biological science or computational science is essential for this role. Those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD will be appointed at Research Assistant level, updated to Postdoctoral Research Associate level once their PhD has been awarded. The salary range for Research Assistants is £32,546 - £35,116 and for Research Associates this is £37,174 - £45,413 per annum. 

Suitable candidates should have previous experience of genetic analysis of large scale genome sequence data and transposable element biology. They should be able to develop and apply at scale bioinformatic tools that identify and classify transposable elements, and the variation they create. Solid experience in programming with Bash and Python is also required and previous experience of vertebrate and invertebrate genomes would be beneficial.

The ideal candidate will be an independent researcher capable of managing a variety of raw and processed genomic data (including DNA-seq, RNA-seq, small RNA-seq, Hi-C, as well as long-read sequencing - RNA and DNA - data), and work productively with wet and dry researchers in an interdisciplinary research environment.

Further information about Dr Felipe Karam Teixeira's research group can be found here https://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/research-groups/research-groups/karam-teixeira

Further information about Professor Richard Durbin's research group can be found here https://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/research-groups/research-groups/durbin

Fixed Term: The funding for this position is available for 3 years in the first instance.

To apply online for this vacancy and to view further information about the role, please click the 'Apply' button above. 

For an informal discussion about this role, please contact Dr Felipe Karam Teixeira (fk319@cam.ac.uk) or Professor Richard Durbin (rd109@cam.ac.uk)

Please quote reference PC45860 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

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