Source: Banfield-lab bioinformatics postdoc announcement – Google Docs
Postdoctoral Scholar:
Microbial genome bioinformatics – Innovative Genomics Institute, UC Berkeley
The Banfield Lab (https://nanogeoscience.berkeley.edu/) and Innovative Genomics Institute (https://innovativegenomics.org/) at the University of California, Berkeley invite applications for a Postdoctoral Researcher position in the field of genome-resolved metagenomics. Our group specializes in generating novel insights about research on the structure and functioning of microbial communities across Earth’s environments, microbial ecology and evolution. Central to our work is the reconstruction and interrogation of the genomes of bacteria, archaea, eukaryotes, viruses and phages from environmental DNA samples. Our goals include understanding how microbial ecosystems control biogeochemical cycles, discovering previously unobserved microbial and viral/phage taxa, identifying potential new biotechnological tools from uncultured organisms (e.g., novel CRISPR-Cas systems) and the development and refinement of bioinformatics methods for this research.
The Banfield lab eagerly invites applications from candidates who will contribute to a diverse work environment and laboratory culture.
Duties of the Position:
This is a fully bioinformatics-focused position. The successful candidate will be responsible for all steps of metagenomic analysis, including shotgun metagenome assembly, genome binning and curation, and functional analysis (including annotation, statistical analysis, and phylogenetics). One objective will be to identify novel genes and pathways with features suggestive of utility for genome editing and biotechnology. The candidate must be willing to work collaboratively with scientists in our laboratory, IGI and on campus, and will have the opportunity to lead research drawing from the lab’s rich pre-existing and new genome-resolved metagenomic datasets (and public databases) to address unanswered questions related to microbial diversity and function across diverse ecosystems. This work will require writing reproducible bioinformatic code and may require developing new bioinformatics algorithms and software.
Minimum Basic Qualifications:
- Completion of all doctoral degree requirements except the dissertation at the time of application.
- Confidence writing reproducible bioinformatic code and running bioinformatics software on high performance computing systems.
- Familiarity with the fields of microbiology and genomics.
Additional Qualifications (by start date):
- PhD degree or equivalent international degree
- The candidate may have no more than two years of post-degree research experience
Salary and Benefits
$53,460 – $61,800 full time annual rate, depending on experience (see UC Postdoc union minimum- salary scales: http://uaw5810.org/welcome-new-postdocs/). This position provides full benefits.
Appointment Length:
The initial appointment will be for one year, with the expectation of renewal for another two years, subject to research progress and funding availability.
Application Procedures
To apply submit a cover-letter and CV to Prof. Jill Banfield (jbanfield@berkeley.edu), with the subject line: Postdoc Position
This position is available immediately and will remain open until filled.
Reference Requirements:
Letters of reference will only be solicited for finalists.
All letters will be treated as confidential per University of California policy and California state law. Please refer potential referees, including when letters are provided via a third party (i.e., dossier service or career center), to the UC Berkeley statement of confidentiality
(http://apo.berkeley.edu/evalltr.html) prior to submitting their letters.
Berkeley Seeks to Advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The Innovative Genomics Institute is interested in candidates who have research interests in subjects that will contribute to the understanding of diversity and equal opportunity.
The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age or protected veteran status. For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy see: http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/NondiscrimAffirmAct. The department is interested in candidates who will contribute to diversity and equal opportunity in higher education through their work.