Fully-funded 3 year position, starting as soon as possible.
The opportunity
Recent breakthroughs in sequencing technologies are transforming biosciences. Increasingly, individual laboratories perform de novo genome and transcriptome sequencing efforts. But due to the relatively short length of current reads, assembly remains challenging. The problem is particularly acute with plant genomes because of their large size, polyploidy, and massive gene expansions and contractions.
The successful applicant will contribute to on-going efforts in the lab to exploit orthologous sequences in closely related species to identify split and incomplete genes in draft genome and transcriptome assemblies.
The project is part of a larger collaboration between the Dessimoz Lab at UCL and Bayer CropScience NV (Ghent, Belgium), leading agronomical company, for the development of new methods and resources to better characterise evolutionary and functional relationships between model plant genomes and agronomically-relevant crop genomes. This project will enable more effective crop biotechnology, which is key to ensure food security and sustainable agriculture.
The successful applicant will be provided with strong mentorship and be given ample scientific training opportunities. She or he will based at UCL in the Bloomsbury area of London, but will have the opportunity to do short-term visits to the collaborator in Ghent.
The successful applicant will receive a tax-free stipend of currently £15,726 per annum. There will be additional opportunities to be sponsored for attending international conferences. The PhD study fees will be covered by the project (UK/EU rates).
Profile Sought
- Strong (first or upper second class) undergraduate or postgraduate degree in quantitative discipline (bioinformatics, computer science, statistics, mathematics, or related subjects)
- High degree of self-motivation
- Good ability to work independently and as part of a team
- Effective written and oral communication skills
- Demonstrated programming skills
- Ideally, prior experience in computational biology research
Applicants must be either UK/EU/Swiss nationals or resident in the UK for three years prior to starting the PhD.
How to apply
To apply, please send the following documents as single PDF by email to Dr Christophe Dessimoz (c.dessimoz at ucl.ac.uk):
- a covering letter highlighting your reasons for applying and your suitability for this studentship
- a copy of your CV
- the names and contact details of 2-3 references
- if available, links to your Bachelor or Master thesis, publications, code projects (e.g. GitHub repo) are appreciated
To ensure full consideration, applications should be received by 16 Sep 2013 at 5pm UK time.
For informal enquiries, please contact Dr Dessimoz to this above address.
About Us
At the interface between biology and computer science, the Dessimoz Laboratory seeks to better understand evolutionary and functional relationships between genes, genomes, and species. The lab is part of both the UCL Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment and the UCL Department of Computer Science.
UCL is one of the world’s top universities. Based in the heart of London, it is a modern, outward- looking institution. At its establishment in 1826, UCL was radical and responsive to the needs of society, and this ethos – that excellence should go hand-in-hand with enriching society – continues today. UCL’s staff and former students have included 21 Nobel prizewinners. It is a truly international community: more than one-third of our student body – nearly 27,000 strong – come from 150 countries and nearly one-third of staff are from outside the UK. UCL is independently ranked as the most productive research university in Europe (SIR). The Thomson Scientific Citation Index – which catalogues journal articles and citations in the sciences, social sciences and arts and humanities – shows that UCL is the second most-highly cited European university.
For more information on graduate studies at UCL, please refer to the Graduate School website.
