Start upon mutual agreement
The Biozentrum of the University of Basel is one of the world’s leading life sciences institutes. With 32 groups and 500 employees, we are a dynamic and international research community that has spawned many fundamental discoveries in biology and medicine.
The Neher Group is looking to recruit a highly motivated Postdoctoral researcher to join the Team of Richard Neher. Our group works on evolution of pathogenic viruses and bacteria with a focus on seasonal influenza virus, SARS-CoV-2, enteroviruses, and drug resistance evolution in bacteria. Research in our group combines population genetics, phylogenetics, mathematical models, and next-generation sequencing to understand the complex dynamics of host-pathogen interactions. On one hand, we are interested in developing tools to analyze and visualize large datasets and maintain several popular tools such as Nextstrain (together with Trevor Bedford's group in Seattle), TreeTime, panX, and panGraph. On the other hand, we tackle fundamental questions of how microbes evolve in light of changing population immunity, drug therapy, or new environments. Adaptation via recombination, reassortment, and genome structure evolution are of particular interest to us. Check us out on neherlab@biozentrum.
Your responsibilities
Possible projects of a post-doctoral fellow include (i) novel phylogenetic and phylodynamic methods suitable for very large data sets, (ii) scalable inference from ancestral reassortment graphs of influenza, and (iii) evolution of gene content and gene order of bacterial chromosomes or plasmids. The scope of the projects is flexible, can be tailored to the applicants interest and skills, and we are open to exciting new ideas.
Your profile
We are looking for a creative and collaborative person with a genuine interest in evolution and with either
- a degree in bioinformatics, computer science, physics, applied math or similar and a strong genuine interest in biology, or
- a life science degree and strong quantitative skills
If you are excited about this opportunity but unsure whether your profile matches what we are looking for, please get in touch.
We offer
You would have the opportunity to pursue original research in a small, interactive, and interdisciplinary group that tackles diverse problems in computational biology. We are internationally well connected and collaborate with several other research groups in Basel and in different parts of the world. We have access to state-of-the-art computing facilities, wet lab space, and sufficient funding for conference travel and research expenses. Our team includes a professional software engineer who can turn novel methods into robust and maintainable software. Salaries are competitive.
Application
Please send your cover letter, statement of research interests, CV, publication list, and contact information of three references as one pdf file to Richard Neher. Please state clearly in your cover letter what your main interests are and how you think it resonates with the work of our group. Reviewing of application will start on June 1st, 2023 and continue until the position is filled.