Senior Research Associate in Population Genomics

Starting salary from £38,249 per annum, dependent on skills and experience, with an annual increment up to £45,413 per annum. 

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Senior Research Associate to join the School of Biological Sciences to conduct research on the genetic diversity and evolution of the red fox.

You will be part of Dr Anders Bergström’s research group (https://research-portal.uea.ac.uk/en/persons/anders-bergstr%C3%B6m), and work on a new project aiming to understand the diversity and evolution of red foxes across the United Kingdom, with a particular focus on contrasting foxes living in urban and rural environments. Cities are expanding worldwide, with major implications for wildlife and biodiversity, but the red fox is an iconic example of a species that actually manages to thrive in these new environments. The project will apply whole-genome sequencing to many hundreds of foxes from urban and rural locations across the UK, to study the impact that urban environments have on genetic diversity and adaptation.

You will have a postgraduate level research degree, equivalent qualification or experience in a relevant research area and be able to work in a collaborative and dynamic research environment. This will be a computational post, in which you will be responsible for processing genomic sequencing data from large numbers of fox samples, and lead analyses of population structure, gene flow, kinship, inbreeding and natural selection.

You should have experience working with genomics data and bioinformatics analyses, handling large amounts of data in command line and high-performance computing environments. Expertise in read mapping, genotype calling, genotype imputation, statistical genetics and genome-wide association testing would be particularly beneficial. You should have a strong interest in evolutionary biology and population genetics. The role can be entirely computational, but can also involve some amount of lab work if this would be of interest.

This full-time post is available from 1 December 2025 (or as soon as possible thereafter) on a fixed term basis until 30 November 2029.

UEA offers a variety of flexible working options and although this role is advertised on a full-time basis, we encourage applications from individuals who would prefer a flexible working pattern including annualised hours, compressed working hours, part time, job share, term-time only and/or hybrid working.

Further information on our great benefits package, including 44 days annual leave inclusive of Bank Holidays and additional University Customary days (pro rata for part-time), can be found on our benefits page.   

Closing date: 8 July 2025

The University holds an Athena Swan Silver Institutional Award in recognition of our advancement towards gender equality.

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