Bioinformatician - Ensembl Genomes - Hoofdinhoud

Job Description

We are looking for a Bioinformatician to join the Ensembl Genomes group which is based at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) located on the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus near Cambridge in the UK.

Microme is a collaborative EC-funded project with 14 partners to develop large scale European infrastructure for microbial pathway data, managed and coordinated by the EBI. Scientific and project leadership will be provided by other small members. Our technical role in the project involves the establishment and population of a repository of pathway data, and the provision of a public service to the user community . This is an exciting new project and the successful applicant will have the opportunity to work alongside many of Europe's leading bioinformatics groups in developing the resource. The post-holder will work as part of the Ensembl Genomes team, which has overall responsibility for developing services for non-vertebrate genomes.

Aspects of the job will include populating the resource with data; developing the software infrastructure to support the specific needs of the project; coordinating public data releases; and working with our systems and service teams to maintain a public service. Crucially, the project will also involve extensive collaboration with other partners, who will be contributing data and tools to the project. Overall project leadership will be provided by other staff, but the post-holder will need to have the ability to communicate clearly, to quickly understand the perspective of our collaborators, and to agree and implement joint work plans.

The technical infrastructure for Microme will be developed from the open-source software previously developed in the Reactome project; and will complement Reactome (whose focus is human pathways) within the EBI's service portfolio.

For further information please visit www.ebi.ac.uk

Qualifications and Experience

Applicants should have a degree in computer science or bioinformatics, or a degree in biological sciences, and a post graduate qualification in computer science or bioinformatics as well as have a minimum of two years professional programming experience, a bioinformatics based PhD, or direct experience of working with metabolic pathway data. Experience of working in any other area of genomic biology or bioinformatics is highly desirable but not essential. Knowledge of bacterial biology is advantageous but is not required.

The successful applicant should be expert in the Perl programming language, and familiarity with relational databases or web-based interfaces (in Perl or another language) is desirable. Experience in using Reactome, or of other genome biology or bioinformatics, or an understanding of bacterial metabolism, are all advantageous but not required.

The post requires excellent communication skills, as the post holder will need to interact with other members of the Microme consortium, generally to discuss technical issues and to coordinate the provision of public service; and specifically, close collaboration with certain partners to accomplish particular tasks. The post holder must therefore be able to communicate clearly, to understand viewpoints other than their own, and to agree and implement a workplan.

At the EBI, the role will be embedded within the Ensembl Genomes team and good local team-working and presentation skills are also required.

Application Instructions

Please apply online through www.embl.org/jobs

Additional Information

EMBL is an inclusive, equal opportunity employer offering attractive conditions and benefits appropriate to an international research organisation.

Please note that appointments on fixed term contracts can be renewed, depending on circumstances at the time of the review.

Note that special visa requirements apply to employees from non EU countries working at EMBL-EBI in the UK. The period of work does not qualify them for the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme.