Bioinformatics Postdoc - GENCODE project (NIH-NHGRI)

Centre for Genomics Regulation (CRG)
Bioinformatics and Genomics
Spain Barcelona
www.crg.eu/

Description

*The Institute*
The Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) is an international biomedical research institute of excellence, based in Barcelona, Spain, with more than 400 scientists from 44 countries. The CRG is composed by an interdisciplinary, motivated and creative scientific team which is supported both by a flexible and efficient administration and by high-end and innovative technologies.
In November 2013, the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) received the 'HR Excellence in Research' Award from the European Commission. This is a recognition of the Institute's commitment to developing an HR Strategy for Researchers, designed to bring the practices and procedures in line with the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers (Charter and Code).

*The role *
Our group is involved in the GENCODE project (www.gencodegenes.org), whose aim is to provide a high-quality, comprehensive map of genes and regulatory elements in the human and mouse genomes. Within that framework, the Guigó lab is responsible for producing high-quality transcriptome sequencing data for the consortium, with the goal of improving the annotation of long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) genes. To that end, our experimental group applies cutting-edge targeted long-read RNA sequencing methods such as CLS (Capture Long-Seq), a technique we developed at the CRG (doi: 10.1038/ng.3988).
Your role will be to work in close collaboration with our experimental team, help optimize protocols, QC, and develop analysis pipelines. In addition, a strong component of the post-doc’s role will be tackling fundamental biological questions related to the role of lncRNAs in mammalian biology. Specifically, we are interested in the discovery and characterization of novel transcriptional elements that had escaped detection so far, but can be accessed through CLS


*About Roderic Guigó’s lab*
The overarching theme of the research in our lab is the understanding of the information encoded in genomic sequences, and how this information is processed in the pathway leading from DNA to RNA and protein sequences. More specifically, we are interested in the epigenetic regulation of gene expression and RNA processing, the relationship between molecular phenotypes and higher-order endophenotypes and organismal phenotypes, and the identification of functional regions on the genome of all living beings. Our group is mostly computational, and we do both large scale data analysis and development of methods, but it has also an important experimental component. We are past and current members of many large scale international functional genomics projects, such as ENCODE, GTEx, BluePrint and others.

The Offer – Working Conditions
● Contract duration: One-year contact with the possibility of extension(s) until the end of the project (May 2025)
● Estimated annual gross salary: A competitive salary will be provided, which will be well matched relative to the cost of living in Barcelona, and adjusted according to experience.
● Target start date: as soon as possible

We provide a highly stimulating environment with state-of-the-art infrastructures, and unique professional career development opportunities. To check out our training and development portfolio, please visit our website in the training section.
We offer and promote a diverse and inclusive environment and welcomes applicants regardless of age, disability, gender, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.
The CRG is committed to reconcile a work and family life of its employees and are offering extended vacation period and the possibility to benefit from flexible working hours.


Qualifications

Studies:
● PhD or master (with more than 5 years experience) in bioinformatics or related field

Experience:
● Broad experience in writing, testing and deploying computational pipelines/workflows.
● Experience in large-scale statistical analysis of data.
● Solid experience working with high-throughput transcriptome sequencing data. Experience with long-read technologies (e.g. Pacific Biosciences, Oxford Nanopore Technologies) would be a plus.
● Having been part of a team involved in the GENCODE or ENCODE project would be a plus
● Experience in genome annotation would be a plus

Technical skills required:
● Good knowledge of Linux systems, command line tools and scripting languages such as Bash, Awk and Perl
● Excellent coding abilities in Python and R are a must
● Previous experience with writing pipelines using the Snakemake workflow management system will be highly valued
● Broad knowledge of mammalian transcriptomics, including relevant laboratory techniques


Languages:
● Fluent level of English.

Competences
● Highly developed organization skills
● Capacity to work both independently and within a team, particularly with experimentalists
● Reliability
● Imagination
● Motivation
● Curiosity


Start date

As soon as possible

How to Apply

All applications must include:
1. A motivation letter addressed to Dr Roderic Guigó
2. A complete CV including contact details.
3. Contact details of two referees.

All applications must be addressed to Dr. Roderic Guigó and be submitted online on the CRG Career site - www.crg.eu/en/content/careers/job-opportunities