Senior Researcher / Researcher in Bioinformatics and Data Science (Three-year contract) at Stellenbosch University

The African Microbiome Institute
General Internal Medicine
Senior Researcher / Researcher in Bioinformatics and Data Science (Three-year contract)
(Ref. TGB14/284/1120)

Overview:

The African Microbiome Institute (AMI) was recently created at Stellenbosch University through a unique collaboration between the Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences, AgriSciences, and Science to unite common interests in the human, animal, plant and environmental microbiome, and to serve as a common resource for the University as a whole. The Institute is unique in Africa, primarily because of its cross-faculty nature, which will stimulate the comprehensive study of the ecology of the microbiome from water, to soil, to plants, and finally to animals and humans. Given the rapid industrialisation, migration and urbanisation of the African people and the impact this is likely to have on our relationship with our environment, it is of fundamental importance to develop a deep understanding of our interactions with our microbiological environment and the factors that modify it. The global nature of the AMI will provide the scaffolding for a systems biological approach to unravelling the driving forces of diet, climate, and geographical change on the health of not only South Africans, but the health and stability of our planet as a whole.
To achieve this ambitious goal, while recognising that the need is immense and given the multi-faculty nature of the operation, AMI is partnering with the Centre for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (CBCB) and the School for Data Science and Computational Thinking at the University to recruit a Data Scientist within the AMI, who will work closely with colleagues in the other two entities. We invite applications from highly motivated data scientists from a bioinformatics background with a track record in meta-omics/microbiomics, and experience in multidisciplinary work environments. The level of this academic appointment will be either P8 Researcher, or P7 Senior Researcher, depending upon the individual’s experience and accomplishments. Initial contract will be for three years.

Duties    

• Forming a bridge between the African Microbiome Institute and the Centre for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (CBCB), as well as the new School for Data Science and Computational Thinking at Stellenbosch University;
• Designing, planning, and analysing scientific studies;
• Managing and establishing infrastructure for advanced computational, bio statistical, and modelling tools to facilitate storage, access, and comparative analysis of large microbiome data sets;
• Skills development and training;
• Coordinating AMI research activities with a large network of multidisciplinary teams across University faculties and Tygerberg Hospital;
• Developing cross-faculty relationships to capture multidisciplinary strengths;
• Liaising with local and international collaborators to build scientific networks;
• Liaising with the National Department of Health, NIH, NRF and other funding bodies;
• Liaising with academic departments with regards to the placement of postgraduate students.

Job Requirements    

• PhD in a field related to complex multi-biome analysis of molecular microbiological or microbiomics data;
• A track record of substantial independent, high impact peer-reviewed research outputs;
• Background and more than three years' experience in bioinformatics and/or data science;
• Tangible evidence of an interest in discovery, innovation and application;
• Original approaches to the analysis of human and environmental microbiome related data;
• Proven ability to participate in multidisciplinary projects and to capture existing multidisciplinary strengths within a University.

Recommendation        

• A background in data science;
• Evidence of ongoing national and international collaboration;
• Successful original grant funding;
• Experience in postgraduate student supervision;
• Knowledge in nutrition, immunology and carcinogenesis;
• Language proficiency within the context of a multilingual University;
• Valid drivers' licence.

Closing Date: 04-Dec-2020