Job Description

The Piccolo, Bicciato, and Risso labs at the University of Padova are seeking highly talented and self-motivated computational biologists for funded post-doctoral positions. Our teams integrate experimental and computational methodologies to study the tumor microenvironment and uncover the molecular mechanisms driving oncogenesis and metastasis, providing an excellent environment for interdisciplinary research training. Our groups consist of members from diverse fields, including molecular and cell biology, bioengineering, computer science, and statistics. We utilize cutting-edge technologies such as highly multiplexed imaging, spatial transcriptomics, and single-cell omics, combined with innovative statistical and machine learning approaches, to systematically delineate the regulatory mechanisms underlying tumor development and metastasis. Prospective postdocs will have the opportunity to work on one or more funded projects and collaborate with multiple groups at national and international research centers.

Key Responsibilities (include but are not limited to):

• Develop and test custom analysis software for the integrative analysis of single-cell and spatial omics data.
• Adopt existing algorithms to characterize the tumor microenvironment using single-cell genomics data from cancer and cancer metastases.
• Create machine learning-based pipelines to identify changes in spatial omics patterns of gene and protein expression in cancer tissues.
• Contribute to the development, execution, and optimization of advanced computational biology methods for the integrative analysis of genomics data.
• Collaborate with molecular and cell biologists to investigate the molecular bases of cancer and metastasis.
• Present research findings at international scientific conferences and draft manuscripts for publication.

Required Skills

• The ideal candidates will hold a PhD in bioengineering, computer science, physics, mathematics, statistics, cell and molecular biology, biotechnology, or any related field in the life sciences with strong expertise in computational biology and bioinformatics.
• Proficiency in scripting environments for statistics and data analysis (R/Bioconductor, Python) and familiarity with command line interfaces and the Linux operating system.
• Familiarity with standard bioinformatic analyses, including bulk and single-cell genomics.
• Candidates should be scientifically curious and able to work independently.

Additional desired skills

• Expertise in statistical methods and algorithm development for biological systems.
• Experience with the integrative analysis and interpretation of multiplexed imaging, spatial transcriptomics, and single-cell omics data.
• Familiarity with image processing, machine learning, and deep learning techniques.

Job Location:

University of Padova (Padova, Italy)

Contact details:

Interested candidates should email a brief cover letter detailing their research interests, experience, and career goals, along with a CV and contact information for two references to Silvio Bicciato (silvio.bicciato at unipd.it), Davide Risso (davide.risso at unipd.it), or Stefano Piccolo (stefano.piccolo at unipd.it). Please include '[POSTDOC POSITION]' and your name in the subject line.