School/Department School of Water, Energy and Environment
Based at Cranfield Campus, Cranfield, Bedfordshire
Hours of work 37 hours per week, normally worked Monday to Friday. Flexible working will be considered.
Contract type Fixed term contract
Fixed Term Period 33 Months
Salary £30,600 per annum (Research Assistant) or £33,309 per annum (Research Fellow)
Apply by 24/03/2021

Role Description

Cranfield University’s world-class expertise, large-scale facilities and unrivalled industry partnerships is creating leaders in technology and management globally. Learn more about Cranfield and our unique impact here. Cranfield’s AgriFood theme has a strong international research profiles in soil and water sciences and in postharvest physiology and provides molecular biology and biochemistry laboratories and glasshouse facilities.

Cranfield’s  School of Water, Energy and Environment welcomes applications from researchers with knowledge in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology coupled with strong programming and machine learning knowledge.

About The Bioinformatics Group

The Bioinformatics Group at Cranfield is an entirely computed-based group with research focusing on the development and application of computational methods in order to unravel the complexity of biological systems. We run and administer our in-house high-performance-computing facility for NGS data analysis, including de-novo assembly, RNA-Seq, functional annotation and genotyping. We also have a long track record in data science and machine learning. We work closely with colleagues in bioscience and Agrifood, applying our expertise in bioinformatics to help solve a range of biological challenges in partnership with our clients.

About the Role

You will join the group’s machine learning bioinformatics team to develop novel predictive classification and regression models for solving complex food quality and safety problems. You will also contribute in our NGS and 3GS genomic and transcriptomics activities.

About You

You will have obtained a PhD in bioinformatics or other computational biology related disciplines or close to completion (Research Fellow). Alternatively, Applicants holding an MSc degree in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology coupled with strong programming and machine learning knowledge will also be considered (Research Assistant). You will have a strong programming background, specially in relation to Web development (Javascript, NodeJS, JavaEE, MEAN Stack, and/or Python)

You will also need to have:

• Expert level knowledge of machine learning, statistical analysis, quantitative analytics, forecasting, multivariate testing, and optimisation algorithms using R and/or Python
• Strong data visualisation skills.
• Experience in developing enterprise-class applications using Java, Unix/Linux, Spring, Hibernate, Maven, or JSP.
• Proficiency in database management systems, both relational and NoSQL
• Experience in using and administering Linux systems.

In return, the successful applicant will have exciting opportunities for career development in this key position, and to support world leading research and education, joining a supportive team and environment.

Our Values

Our shared, stated values help to define who we are and underpin everything we do: Ambition; Impact; Respect; and Community. Find out more here. We aim to create and maintain a culture in which everyone can work and study together and realise their full potential.

Diversity and Inclusion

Our equal opportunities and diversity monitoring has shown that women and minority ethnic groups are currently underrepresented within the university and so we actively encourage applications from eligible candidates from these groups.

To further demonstrate our commitment to progressing gender diversity in STEM, we are members of WES & Working Families, and sponsors of International Women in Engineering Day.

Flexible Working

We actively consider flexible working options such as part-time, compressed or flexible hours and/or an element of homeworking, and commit to exploring the possibilities for each role. Find out more here.

How to apply

For an informal discussion about this opportunity, please contact Dr Fady Mohareb, Reader in Bioinformatics and Group Leader, via email: f.mohareb@cranfield.ac.uk

Interviews to be held: 07 April 2021