The Faculty of Sciences of the University of Antwerp is seeking to fill the following full-time vacancy in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science.

Scientific software developer in the field of pharma data analytics.

This project will be conducted at the interface of 1) the biodata mining team (under supervision of prof. Kris Laukens), a rapidly growing, multi-disciplinary unit within the ADReM data lab / biomina of the department of Mathematics and Computer Science (University of Antwerp, Belgium); 2) (under supervision of prof. Dirk Valkenborg) the Center for Statistics (University of Hasselt, Belgium); and 3) a major pharmaceutical industry partner.

Job description

You will develop novel implementations for cutting-edge data mining and machine learning approaches, tailored towards the field of small molecule mass-spectrometry. This chemical field plays a central role in many top-notch pharmaceutical and biotechnological applications. Its enormous data complexity requires novel, robust data processing, management and visualisation techniques. As a scientific programmer, you will fulfill a central role in translating the newest data science approaches to industry-grade applications. While being familiar with the type of data and applications is not a prerequisite, you will work closely with domain experts to understand the data and its particular problems, and you will learn to understand the challenges of their applicability in a real laboratory setting. You will implement your methods in a user-friendly software environment and application-programming interface. You collaborate with academic researchers in different disciplines (from computational sciences to life sciences) within the consortium (biomina- the biomedical informatics network Antwerpen, UAntwerpen, UHasselt) and with the industrial partners of the project.

Profile and requirements

·     You have a master or doctoral degree in computer science (data science, software engineering, ...), bioinformatics or chemoinformatics;

·     You have a good understanding of data mining, statistics, machine learning and visualisation techniques.

·     You have excellent (scientific) software and database development skills.

·     You have a strong interest in translating the newest data science solutions to industry-grade applications.

·     You have excellent interdisciplinary English communication skills, you are quality-oriented and creative, and eager to emerge in new domains. Proven project management skills and industrial experience are a plus;

·     Previous experience in data mining for bioinformatics, mass spectrometry or related techniques is an advantage but not a prerequisite;

We offer

·     A software developer or postdoctoral position (depending on your degree) for a period of two years. The default start date of the position is November 1^st 2017 (but this is open for negotiation);

·     A salary commensurate with your experience and qualifications;

·     A dynamic, stimulating and multinational work environment.

Interested?

Candidates are invited to send a motivation letter, a detailed CV and contact info of at least two references (including email addresses and phone numbers) to Prof. Kris Laukens (kris.laukens@uantwerpen.be) and Prof. Dirk Valkenborg (dirk.valkenborg@uhasselt.be). Don’t hesitate to contact us in advance for more information.