RESPONSIBILITIES

Opportunity: Position in bioinformatics to be filled at the level of a research technologist or post-doc depending on the successful candidate's education and work experience.

Description: The laboratory of Dr. Michael Mwangi at Penn State University is seeking a person to fill a position in bioinformatics. The person will be responsible for analyzing very large and noisy biological data sets, most notably next-generation sequencing data from different platforms such as Illumina, Ion Torrent, and 454. This work will involve solving difficult problems in machine learning related to polymorphism detection, metagenomic analysis, quantitative trait loci mapping, etc. The position is ideal for someone interested in working at the nexus of computer science, statistics, and biology. The skills that will be gained are in high demand in academia, the bio- and information-technology sectors, quantitative finance, etc.

REQUIREMENTS

Training in a quantitative discipline such as computational biology, computer science, statistics, physics, applied mathematics, engineering, etc. To be hired as a technologist, a B.Sc. is required, and a M.Sc. is preferred. To be hired as a post-doc, a Ph.D. is required. Experience analyzing next-generation sequencing data from either Illumina, Ion Torrent, 454, or SOLiD. Experience programming in Java or C++. Knowledge of molecular cell biology at the level of an introductory university course (e.g. Lodish et al.'s textbook Molecular Cell Biology, 4th Edition).

PREFERENCES

Familiarity with Lasergene's NGen software for assembling sequence reads. Knowledge of Java at the level of Eckel's textbook Thinking in Java, 4th Edition. Experience building GUI and web-based applications in Java using tools like WindowBuilder, Google Web Toolkit, and Java Web Start. Familiarity with techniques in machine learning at the level of Duda et al.'s textbook Pattern Classification, 2nd Edition. Familiarity with either Python or Perl. Familiarity with MATLAB.

LOCALE

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Eberly College of Science, Penn State University, University Park.

TERMS

It is hoped that the successful candidate can start sometime in September or October, 2012.

HOW TO APPLY

Please contact Dr. Michael Mwangi at mmm59[at]psu.edu