[BiO BB] PhD Studentship in Biodata Mining; University of Nottingham and Crops for the Future Research Centre

[Jaume Bacardit]

[Apologies if you receive multiple times this announcement]

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* Title: Mining the gene networks involved in water-stress response in 
bambara groundnut: a machine learning approach to translating traits in 
model species to minor crops
* Location: UK and Malaysia campuses of the University of Nottingham
* Open to: any applicant with suitable qualifications. No nationality 
restrictions
* Deadline for application: As soon as a suitable candidate is identified.
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Project description:

Underutilised species have the potential to help diversify agriculture 
and to make food production more robust in the face of future 
challenges. The ability to use information obtained in one species to 
guide evaluation of another species is the underlying principle behind 
the use of model systems.

The translation of data from models and major crop species to 
underutilised species is essential if underutilised species are to make 
a major contribution to Global Food Security or other end-uses. The 
ability to identify key components of trait networks relies on 
developing methods to search very large datasets, guided by knowledge 
from other systems. Machine learning techniques have been shown to be 
very competent at this task, as they are able to explore vast datasets 
to identify key genes and their interactions. Moreover, they can easily 
integrate multiple sources of knowledge and automatically identify the 
relevant parts of the system being analysed.

This project will focus on the use of machine learning and 
bioinformatics techniques to study the process of water-related stress 
in bambara groundnut (an African legume) by contrasting datasets from 
this species with the known networks of model organisms. This legume 
grows successfully with varying access to water, cropping from the Namib 
desert in Africa to the humid tropics in Indonesia.

Applicants should have a 2.1 or 1 class honours degree, or a combination 
of qualifications and/or experience equivalent to that level and have 
training in data mining techniques or bioinformatics. Previous biology 
experience will be an advantage for Computer Science applicants. The 
successful candidate should be confident working within and across a 
range of activities, have excellent organisational abilities, be 
enthusiastic and have good interpersonal skills.

The student will spend time at the UK and Malaysia campuses of the 
University of Nottingham. At UK the student will be based at the 
Interdisciplinary Computing and Complex Systems (ICOS) research group 
(http://icos.cs.nott.ac.uk) at the School of Computer Science. In 
Malaysia, the student will be co-hosted by Biosciences at UNMC 
(www.nottingham.edu.my/biosciences/index.aspx) and the new Crops for the 
Future Research Centre currently under construction.

The student will be registered formally at The University of Nottingham 
Malaysia Campus. The studentship provides full tuition fees and a 
monthly stipend of 4400MYR (Malaysian Rynggit), for a duration of 3 years.

This studentship will remain open until a suitable candidate is found, 
thus we recommend applying early.

Supervisor names and contact details :

Festo Massawe, School of Biosciences, UNMC (festo.massawe at nottingham.edu.my)
Jaume Bacardit, School of Computer Science, UoN 
(jaume.bacardit at nottingham.ac.uk)
Sean Mayes, Plant and Crop Sciences, UoN (sean.mayes at nottingham.ac.uk))
Michael Holdsworth, Plant and Crop Sciences, UoN 
(michael.holdsworth at nottingham.ac.uk) )

For informal enquiries about this studentship please contact 
jaume.bacardit at nottingham.ac.uk - Web: http://www.cs.nott.ac.uk/~jqb/ 
Please quote I.D. code Bam1-004 on all correspondence.
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Jaume Bacardit, PhD
Lecturer in Bioinformatics
University of Nottingham

Interdisciplinary Computing and Complex Systems Research Group,
School of Computer Science, Jubilee Campus, Nottingham, NG8 1BB, UK
URL: http://icos.cs.nott.ac.uk
Twitter: @ICO2S

Tel: +441158467044
Fax: +441159516292
Email: jaume _dot_ bacardit _at_ nottingham _dot_ ac _dot_ uk
Web: http://www.cs.nott.ac.uk/~jqb
Twitter: @jaumebp
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