Research Associate

Salary: Full time starting salary is normally in the range £32,546 to £35,116 with potential progression once in post to £39,355

Contract Type: Fixed Term contract up to November 2027 

Background

The Research Associate position at the University of Birmingham is a Grade 6 role within the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre Theme on Gastrointestinal and Oral Health, focused on developing diagnostic tools using salivary samples.

The Research Associate will be based at the Earlham Institute as a visiting scholar within Prof Quince’s group but work closely with the Birmingham team and be formally employed by the University of Birmingham.

The researcher will apply bioinformatics and machine learning to analyse microbiome and host omics data from faecal, intestinal biopsy, and saliva samples, aiming to identify biomarkers for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). They will also manage sequencing datasets, contribute to publications and grant applications, and provide support to staff and students.

Role Summary

• Provide bioinformatics support to the BRC OGS Theme
• Process and analyse ‘omics data from salivary samples
• Develop new machine learning methods for IBD diagnosis
• Write relevant publications, give presentations and provide support to grant applications

Main Duties

• Develop bioinformatics pipelines for integrating metagenomic data from the oral cavity and the gut, as well as host-and microbiome-derived metatranscriptome data from salivary samples.
• Analyse research data (omics data sets).
• Apply and, where necessary, further develop, novel machine learning methods utilising cutting edge supervised and unsupervised strategies for interpreting the data and linking to IBD diagnosis in the presence of significant confounding factors.
• Organise large-scale sequence data sets.
• Communicate results at project meetings and conferences.
• Present research outputs, including drafting academic publications or parts thereof, for example at seminars and as posters.
• Provide guidance as required to support staff and any students who may be assisting with research.
• Deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines.
• Carry out administrative tasks related directly to the delivery of the research.
• Support the development of novel, related research grant applications.
• Promote equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.

Person Specification

• A First degree with strong quantitative and informatics component e.g. biological, biomedical, natural sciences, computing, physics, informatics or computer science.
• Basic mathematics e.g. calculus and probability.
• Ideally experience with command line and sequence analysis.
• Good programming skills (e.g. R, Python, C/C++).
• Knowledge of basic statistics and application in R or similar.
• Experience with machine learning algorithms and ideally experience developing novel methods.
• Understanding of basic biological principles and experience interpreting ‘omics data.
• Ability to analyse information and communicate effectively.
• Ability to access and organise resources successfully. 

Informal enquiries to Professor Moritz Kebschull, email: m.kebschull@bham.ac.uk and Professor Chris Quince, email: christopher.quince@earlham.ac.uk 

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the 'Apply' button above.

Valuing excellence, sustaining investment
We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working

Closes: 21st April 2025

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