Graduate Research Assistant

The Health and Life Science (HLS) Faculty seeks to appoint Graduate Research Assistant to support Professor Caroline Wright’s Wellcome Trust-funded research. These fixed-term positions (2 years initially, starting from 1st August 2025) will contribute to ongoing projects within the PARADIGM team, focusing on genetic variant interpretation and the integration of existing genetic and functional datasets.

About the project:

This position is part of a multi-institute research initiative led by Prof. Caroline Wright. Despite progress in genome sequencing, the majority of patients affected by rare diseases remain undiagnosed. The PARADIGM initiative (https://paradigmgenomics.org/) is tackling this problem by creating new Primary Annotated Resources to Advance Discovery In Genomic Medicine. PARADIGM is a collaboration between researchers at the Universities of Exeter, Edinburgh, Imperial, and Cambridge as well as the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) and Welcome Sanger Institute. By combining machine learning approaches with functional genomics data and genome sequences from patients, we aim to find novel genetic causes of disease and improve variant interpretation.

As a Graduate Research Assistant, you will play a key role in analysing genetic and functional datasets to enhance variant interpretation. You will work closely with a multidisciplinary team, contributing to cutting-edge research in genomic medicine.

About you

The successful applicant will be able to present information on research progress and outcomes, communicate complex information, orally, in writing and electronically and prepare proposals and applications to external bodies.

Applicants will be educated to first degree level in genetics or related science (biochemistry, data science, bioinformatics) or possess an equivalent qualification/experience in a related field of study or equivalent experience and be able to demonstrate sufficient knowledge in the discipline and of research methods and techniques to work within established research programmes. Applicants will ideally have experience using open-source computing languages (e.g. R, Unix), and have a solid foundation in applying a range of data analytic techniques to analyse genetic datasets.

The successful applicant will be highly self-motivated, be able to work independently, will have a keen interest in acquiring new skills and knowledge, and be able to work and communicate effectively as part of a cross-disciplinary, multi-institute team.

Please ensure you read the Job Description and Person Specification for full details of this role.

Further information

For further information please contact Prof. Caroline Wright, email  Caroline.Wright@exeter.ac.uk

The closing date for completed applications is 27^th April 2025.  Interviews are expected to take place in mid-May.

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