BACKGROUND

Applications are invited for a Computational Biologist for a 24 month post in the Dicks Computational Biology Group (http://cbr.jic.ac.uk/dicks/) within the JIC Department of Computational and Systems Biology. The research focus of the group is the development of models and algorithms, together with associated software and databases, for the study of crop plant evolution. The successful candidate will play a key role in the second phase of development of the GERMINATE project (http://bioinf.scri.sari.ac.uk/germinate/). GERMINATE II is a UK and international collaborative project which aims to build on the current GERMINATE deliverables by developing new software tools for the analysis and display of crop plant genetic diversity. The post-holder will work in collaboration with a large group of computational biologists, including a post-doctoral bioinformatician appointed recently at the University of Dundee.

The aims of this project are to:

1. Design and develop a new software tool, GERMANE, to allow users to carry out statistical analyses of the crop genetic data.

2. Interface the GERMANE tool to the GERMINATE database.

3. Link existing analytical tools, STRUCTURE and NETWORK, to the GERMINATE database via GERMANE.

4. Develop the CORE algorithm for estimation of core collections and link to GERMINATE via GERMANE.

REQUIREMENTS

A PhD in a numerical/computational science, or equivalent experience, is essential together with good programming skills in Java. A background in statistics would be an advantage. Experience in genetics or genomics would be desirable but would not be essential.

This is a limited term contract. Salary on appointment will be within the range £24,200 to £27,200 per annum depending on qualifications and experience. This post also attracts an additional retention and recruitment salary allowance from £3,800 to £6,000 per annum (depending on starting salary) until 31 Dec 2007, with the level of the allowance to be negotiated after that date.

HOW TO APPLY

For more information and to apply, please visit our web site http://jobs.jic.ac.uk or contact Human Resources, The Operations Centre, Norwich BioScience Institutes, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK quoting post reference number 1752.

The John Innes Centre is a registered charity (No223852) grant-aided by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

DEADLINE

The closing date for applications will be 29 June 2007.