A PhD or postdoctoral position in bioinformatics is available immediately at the Translational Genetics Group of the Vesalius Research Center, VIB,  KU Leuven

Job description:

The Vesalius Research Center (VRC) is part of the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) and is located within the University of Leuven (Belgium). In the past, VRC has has focused its research activities on angiogenesis, cardiovascular research and oncology. Using various transgenic technologies (fruit fly, frog and mouse), the functional relevance of numerous gene products has functionally been addressed in VRC, and has already led to several scientific breakthroughs with promising therapeutic applications. Currently, VRC is seeking to expand its scientific activities and interested in identifying novel genetic causes of clinically relevant disorders. To this extend, state-of-the-art high throughput technologies are being used, including large-scale next-generation sequencing of DNA and RNA samples. One of the most exciting ongoing projects concerns the analysis of full genome sequencing data of tumor samples. However, to identify the numerous genetic variations present in these tumors, complicated downstream bio-informatics analyses at the genome-wide level are necessary. We are therefore working with specialized bioinformaticians for primary data analyses (sequence assembly, mapping of deletions, amplifications, tandem duplications, invertions and inter-chromosomal rearrangements, etc), the development of novel algorithms, and downstream validation experiments (prioritization of identified genetic variants through data fusion). Additionally,  novel analysis methods for the identification of mutations in highly arranged tumor samples, and to account for tumor heterogeneity (multiple tumor clones) and infiltration of normal cells (endothelial cells, fibroblasts or myeloid cells) in the tumor should be developed. Therefore, we are currently seeking for an additional bioinformatician (postdoc or PhD level) to aid in the development of these novel tools or to adapt existing tools.

Requirements:

- you have a master’s degree in industrial engineering or a master’s degree in biological, biomedical sciences or bio-engineering, or you have obtained a PhD in the topics of genomics or bioinformatics;

- you have organizational and management skills, and you can inspire and motivate the team for work;

- you have good communication skills and can cooperate easily with the different team members ;

- you have passion for science and the motivation to work on an innovative and ambitious project in a open, dynamic and skilled team;

- you have experience with programming languages (such as Perl, Matlab or R).

Prefered skills:

- experience with SNP analysis and/or structural variation analyses;

- knowledge of Linux and SQL databases;

- basic system administration skills are considered a plus.

We offer:

- a fascinating work environment in which quality, professionalism and human contact are encouraged;

- the possibility to be at the start of a scientifically cutting-edge and socially relevant project;

- the opportunity to contribute to the optimalisation of the workflows in genetic and transgenic research in a young and dynamic team.

Starting date:

As soon as a suited candidate is found.