Bioinformatics position
Application deadline: 26 November 2007
Dear colleagues,
Some of you may already know that I am setting up
a Bioinformatics unit at the National Institute
of Health in Lisbon, Portugal. We now have a
postdoctoral position available. If you or any of
your colleagues is interested, please find the information below.
With kind regards,
Annemie Vandamme
Job Reference: C2007-INSA-07
Main research field: Biomedical sciences
Sub research field: Bioinformatics
Job summary:
The Portuguese National Institute of Health has a
vacancy for a postdoctoral researchers in the
field of BIOINFORMATICS. The position is funded
through the Portuguese government initiative for
research jobs, Ciência 2007. A contract of 5
years is offered, with a yearly salary of
approximately 42 000 €/year. Candidates need to
have a PhD since approximately 3 years, and will
be selected based on their relevant postdoctoral
experience, publication record, motivation and,
for short listed applicants, interview
performance. Applications should include a
motivation letter, a succinct CV, a one-page
synopsis of current research, and names and
contacts of at least two senior researchers for
reference (preferentially including
recommendation letters). See also <http://www.insarj.pt/>www.insarj.pt.
Job description:
Founded by Ricardo Jorge in 1898 as the
laboratory arm of the public health services,
INSA is a State Laboratory, incorporating the
functions of national observatory and national
reference laboratory in the Portuguese health
sector, namely in the areas of infectious
diseases, chronic-degenerative and genetic
diseases, environment-related health problems,
and health determinants (including life styles).
These problem-areas are dealt with by performing
R&D, health monitoring, training, laboratory
external quality assessment and services.
At INSA as in other research fields, the
increasing performance of laboratories and the
exponential increase of data that are produced
and gathered in the field have resulted in an
explosive availability of data, without the
proper means in terms of tools, education and
infrastructure, to extract the maximum of
knowledge from these data. Therefore INSA is in
dire need of bioinformatics experts and the
proper environment for their optimal functioning.
In this respect, the Institute has attracted, in
2006, a worldwide expert in BioInformatics to set
up a new Bioinformatics Unit at the Institute,
Prof Dr Anne-Mieke Vandamme from the Rega
Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke
Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. Currently fully
functional, the expertise of this unit reflects
the expertise of its director, acquired with her
research team in Leuven. This expertise lies in
the investigation of evolutionary pathways of
viruses under (drug) selective pressure and in
the molecular epidemiology of viruses. The
techniques used are data mining and phylogenetic analysis.
The successful applicant will initially try to
develop new approaches for implementing
phylogenetic information into data mining and
epidemiological modeling, and will develop and
apply software together with our collaborators at
the Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven (Belgium),
at the University of Oxford (UK), and at the
Gulbenkian Institute (Portugal). The researcher
is also expected to give support to other members
of the team in terms of database design and development of application tools.
Gradually, it is expected from the researcher
that he/she develops his/her own research
interests based on the opportunities offered by
the departments at the Institute with their large
expertise in the health sector, and that by the
end of the 5 year contract, he/she will have
gathered a team of researchers around him/her.
Qualifications and Experience
The applicant should have an informatics or life
science background, carrying a masters in
Bioinformatics, and have research experience in
the field of datamining and phylogenetic analysis
which is documented by an excellent publication
record. Experience in the development of database
solutions, in writing application software, and
in successful grant applications is a bonus. The
applicant should be fluent in English (speaking,
reading and writing), and should be willing to
learn Portuguese within the first year of arrival.
Application
Documents in electronic version should be sent by e-mail to
C2007_INSA_07@ insa.min-saude.pt.
Hard copies should be sent by surface mail to
Prof Dr Anne-Mieke Vandamme
Centro de Bioinformática
Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr Ricardo Jorge
Av Padre Cruz
1649-016 Lisboa
Portugal
Selection committee
Prof Dr Anne-Mieke Vandamme, Centre for
Bioinformatics, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr Ricardo Jorge, Lisbon, Portugal
Prof Dr Marc Van Ranst, Clinical and
Epidemiological Virology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
Prof Dr Mário J. Gaspar da Silva, Department of
Informatics, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
Vacant posts: 1
Type of contract: Contract for 5 years, with possibility for extension
Job country: Portugal
Job city: Lisbon
Job company/institute: Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr Ricardo Jorge
Application deadline: 26 November 2007
Organization contact data
----------
Organization/institute: Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr Ricardo Jorge - C2007
Address:
Avenida Padre Cruz
1649-016 Lisboa
Portugal
Email: <mailto:cgh@insa.min-saude.pt>c2007_INSA_07@insa.min-saude.pt
Website: http://www.insarj.pt
Required education Level
----------
Degree:
PhD
Degree field:
Bioinformatics
Required languages
----------
Language:
English
Priority:
High
Reading:
Excellent
Writing:
Excellent
Comprehension:
Excellent
Conversation:
Excellent
Required research experience
----------
Main Research Field:
Biomedical Sciences
Research Sub-Field:
Bioinformatics
Years of Post-doc Research Experience:
Approx. 3 years
Selection Committee
----------
Name:
Anne-Mieke Vandamme
Name:
Marc Van Ranst
Name:
Mário J. Gaspar da Silva