Senior Bioinformatician

This is a full-time, fixed term (3 year) position on Crick terms and conditions of employment.

The Research Group

The collaborative labs comprise developmental and cell biologists interested in understanding the development and evolution of the vertebrate nervous system. Its organisation is initiated by secreted molecules forming extracellular gradients that regulate the expression of transcription factors. These control the identity and proliferation of neural progenitors thereby governing pattern formation and tissue growth. Using a range of molecular, imaging and modelling approaches, the labs investigate how signalling is perceived and interpreted by cells to control gene expression and cell behaviour. They develop novel tools and approaches to obtain a comprehensive view of brain and spinal cord development across evolution and to analyse the interdependence between different aspects of pattern formation.

Project summary

This position is to work on an exciting collaborative programme: the Human Developmental Biology Initiative (HDBI), funded by Wellcome. The overarching goal of the collaboration is to develop a set of experimental and computational methods for studies in human embryonic and foetal tissues by focusing on generating foundational data on cell lineage in human development. In our component of the project, we are developing lineage analysis techniques to investigate the cell and tissue dynamics in regions of the developing nervous system. This involves generating and analysing both prospective (timelapse imaging) and retrospective (molecular barcoding, spatial transcriptomics) lineage tracing techniques followed by computational data analysis.

Key experience and competencies

You will develop computational analyses of single cell transcriptomic and genomic data and drive data interpretation and design for validation. In collaboration with others working on the project, you will be responsible for the biological interpretation of integrated single cell datasets, this will involve working closely with experimental scientists. Together, you will develop follow-up projects for further validation and analysis. This will involve working with data collected from post implantation human embryos as well as models of development including in vitro human models and in vivo data from other vertebrates. You will also collaborate closely with other computational and experimental scientists working on other parts of the HDBI.

Essential

• PhD or in the final stages of PhD submission in computational biology
• Expert-level programming skills in R or python or another language relevant to the role
• Good knowledge and experience of computational analysis of transcriptomic and/or genomic data.
• Experience of computational analysis of large datasets using R, Python or other appropriate language
• Track record of writing papers as evidenced by publications or submitted manuscripts in referred journals
• Evidence of data presentation at scientific meetings
• Experience in applying expertise to the experimental and analysis design process.
• Ability to work independently and also capable of interacting within a group

Desirable

• Experience in developmental biology or tissue biology.
• Experience of the analysis of single cell omics data.
• Knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of neural development.
• Experience in software development processes and management such as git
• Excellent computational skills applied to HPC, big data, software development and web technologies.