A postdoctoral position (full time) is available in the newly established research group of Richard Neher at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel. Our group works on genomics of pathogenic viruses and bacteria with a focus on intra-patient HIV evolution and prediction of seasonal influenza virus evolution. Research in our group combines mathematical modeling, bioinformatics, next-generation sequencing, and methods from statistical physics to understand the complex dynamics of host-pathogen interactions. Our group is a co-developer of the real-time virus tracking tools nextflu.org and nextstrain.org. We have recently started to extend our real-time tracking efforts to bacterial populations.
Possible projects include (i) extension of our recent results on influenza virus evolution to use all genomic segments, (ii) genome evolution of bacteria or (iii) real-time tracking applications for bacteria. The exact scope of the projects is flexible and can be tailored to the applicants interest and skills.
We are looking for
a creative and collaborative person with a genuine interest in evolution and with * either: - PhD in physics, applied math, bioinformatics, computer science and strong interest in biology - a life science degree and strong quantitative skills * scientific computing and programming experience (ideally in python and C/C++) * firm background in probability theory and statistical methods
In addition, the following skills are desirable:
- experience with next-generation sequencing data
- population genetic models/phylogenetic inference
- data visualization and experience with javascript/d3
Application
Please send your cover letter, statement of research interests (max one page), CV, publication list, and contact information of three references as one pdf file to Richard Neher. Please state clearly in your cover letter what you want to do and why this fits with our research. For informal inquiries, contact Richard Neher.
Environment
The Biozentrum of the University of Basel is one of the leading institutes worldwide for molecular and biomedical basic research and teaching. It is home to more than 30 research groups with scientists from over 40 countries. Research at the Biozentrum focuses on the areas of Cell Growth & Development, Infection Biology, Neurobiology, Structural Biology & Biophysics and Computational & Systems Biology. With its more than 500 employees, the Biozentrum is the largest department at the University of Basel’s Faculty of Science.
Basel is a very international city and a center of life science research, with many life science research companies in the area, including Novartis and Roche. Several other academic institutions are also in the city, including the Friedrich Miescher Institute, the ETH Zurich Biosystems Science and Engineering Department, and the Swiss Tropical Institute. The city is less than 5km from both France and Germany and an hour and a half from the Swiss Alps.