Full details and application link at http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/16356/
Application Deadline: Sunday 8th April 2018
Background:
The MRC Cancer Unit (MRC CU) is a Cambridge University Department situated on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. It provides an outstanding environment for cancer research, supporting some 10 research groups and ~100 experimental and computational scientists. The successful candidate will be joining an innovative data-science research group headed by Dr Shamith Samarajiwa. The research focus of the group is to integratively uncover the fundamental rules underlying gene, genome and epigenome regulation during both normal cellular processes and their perturbation during pathological conditions such as cancer. More information about the MRC Cancer unit is at https://www.mrc-cu.cam.ac.uk/ and the Samarajiwa lab can be found at https://samarajiwa-lab.org
The project:
The research focus is to develop and apply artificial intelligence (AI) methods and technologies to understand gene and epi(genomic) regulatory mechanisms involved in cancer with a particular focus on immune and inflammatory processes. The project will utilise genomic datasets relating to gene expression (RNA-seq), gene and epigenome regulation (ChIP-seq, ATAC-seq, Drip-seq, Ribo-seq, Hi-C etc), together with cancer genomic datasets such as WGS to identify CNV (mutations), CNAs (genetic aberrations) and mutational signatures. The Samarajiwa lab has considerable expertise in developing integrative computational methods and applying data science and computational biology to understand and mine genomic data sets. The data sets used are generated by our collaborators or are from large public data-generation efforts.
The Person:
The candidate will have a PhD (or equivalent) in artificial intelligence or a related discipline (machine learning, deep learning, computational biology with ML experience) and should have a good understanding of neural network architectures, have necessary statistical knowledge, programming and computer science skills required for applied AI research. While knowledge of biology is not required, an enthusiasm for the application of AI methods to solve biomedical problems would be useful.
Requirements:
The role involves the application and development of Data Science and AI methods to decipher, understand and make inferences from the above cancer and functional genomics data sets. Experience in deep learning and use of Tensorflow, Keras, scikit-learn and other DL/ML libraries is required. Experience in a Linux/Unix environment, with good programming skills in Python is required whilst a knowledge of R would be advantageous. The candidate should have a good understanding of neural network architectures, have necessary statistical knowledge, programming and computer science skills required for applied AI research. While knowledge of biology is not required, an enthusiasm for the application of AI methods to solve biomedical problems would be useful.
The ability to deal with large and heterogeneous data sets and an ability to carry out reproducible computational research is also expected. Access to an internal CPU compute cluster, an internal GPU server and access to the large Cambridge University high performance computing cluster will be provided. The applicant is expected to work in a multidisciplinary team consisting of genomicists, clinicians, computational biologists, mathematicians and computer scientists and training in computational biology, genomics and cancer biology required for the project will be provided.
Salary:
For candidates with a PhD the salary will be on the scale £31,604 - £38,833 p.a. depending on relevant postdoctoral experience. Candidates without a PhD (or equivalent) or due to complete their PhD within 6 months of their start date will be appointed at the Research Assistant level with a salary of £28,936 per annum (Grade 5) and, if applicable, advancing to Research Associate level (Grade 7) following the conferment of your PhD.
For queries regarding this post please contact admin@mrc-cu.cam.ac.uk
Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a security check.
Interviews: interviews will likely be held on w/c 16th April 2018
This fixed-term position is funded by Isaac Newton Trust/Wellcome Trust ISSF and University of Cambridge Joint Research Grants Scheme and is available from immediately until 31 March 2020.
To apply online for this vacancy, please click on the 'Apply' button on http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/16356/. This will route you to the University's Web Recruitment System, where you will need to register an account (if you have not already) and log in before completing the online application form.
Please ensure that you upload a covering letter and CV including a list of publications in the Upload section of the online application. If you upload any additional documents which have not been requested, we will not be able to consider these as part of your application. Please include details of your referees, including email address and phone number, one of which must be your most recent line manager.
Please quote reference SK14533 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy. The University values diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity. The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.
