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Job description

Salary:
Research Associate: £33,348 to £43,155 per annum
Senior Research Associate: £44,414 to £52,841 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 24 May 2023

The Role

This new position is a key role in the Informatics and Precision Care for an Ageing Population Theme within the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre. Funding of more than £23 million was secured in late 2022 for our fourth successive BRC. This Theme however is a new additional strand which will interface with other disease-focussed themes.

The principal aim of the new theme is to integrate disparate, complex datasets within and across a range of chronic inflammatory diseases. We will consolidate our established strengths and existing data resources in, for example, single cell genomics, computational imaging and precision medicine while exploring how data from each source can inform and enrich the interpretation of the others. With this we seek to gain new insights into patient heterogeneity and clinical phenotypes, identify novel biomarkers and surrogate endpoints and overcome limitations of individual modalities such as scalability or generalisability.

This theme will (i) fully integrate these approaches in two exemplar pathfinder disease areas (giant cell arteritis (GCA), chronic idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease (CIIBD), (ii) use similar approaches to address questions of precision care in patient populations from other Themes in the BRC and (iii) integrate datasets from different diseases to explore common processes at both the cellular and population level. The aim is to provide clinically meaningful insights for direct patient benefit, realising the promise of precision care.

You will be located in state-of-the-art facilities within the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Newcastle University. The Faculty has a vibrant community of bioengineers and cellular, molecular and computational biologists, with strong links to computer scientists and engineers based in the Faculty of Science and Engineering. Researchers work together across many of the Faculty’s research themes, and our Innovation Hubs provide advanced methodology and access to the latest infrastructure. You will have access to excellent dedicated core research facilities for single cell and spatial genomics, other muti-omics and digital pathology.

As part of our commitment to career development for research staff, the University has developed 3 levels of research role profiles . These profiles set out firstly the generic competences and responsibilities expected of role holders at each level and secondly the general qualifications and experiences needed for entry at a particular level.

You will have opportunities to provide expertise across a range of projects within the BRC, but the principal (at least initial) emphasis would be with our two exemplar areas: chronic inflammatory bowel disease and giant cell arteritis.

Appointment at the level of Senior Research Associate (Grade G) will require substantial prior experience and attainment as set out below: appointment of a well-qualified but less experienced researcher at Research Associate level (Grade F) will also be considered. The post is available for 4 years in the first instance. In addition, senior researchers who are successful in the role for a number of years will have the possibility of applying for an individual research fellowship leading to an independent academic post through Newcastle’s NUACT scheme.

You will have A PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Biomedical Sciences, Physics or Engineering or a similar discipline with an interest in Life Sciences and experience in Bioinformatics and Programming, substantial professional experience of research and a strong background and experience in bioinformatics and programming.

This position is Full Time and Fixed Term until 30th November 2027.

Further information can be obtained by contacting Professor Alastair Burt ( [email protected] )

Senior Research Associate

Key Accountabilities
To provide high-level bioinformatic analysis for single cell and other mullti-omics datasets from human tissues
To take a leading role in developing bioinformatics capacity across the theme by planning and delivering training and support of researchers
To independently develop new analysis tools and pipelines a deploy these algorithms for use by others both in-house and externally within new or existing open-source packages
To ensure that knowledge and bioinformatics skills in your own, and related, areas of scholarship are extended and inform research activities and to develop collaborative networks to support analytical method development
Lead on the preparation and writing of research papers and make significant contributions to group research papers
Provision of bioinformatic advice for researchers in proposal development and grant writing
To present results from your own and your team's research activity, including information on progress and outcomes and input into the research project’s dissemination, in a variety of formats
Identify research objectives and potential funding sources and lead or support writing proposals for funding
Play an active part in research networks and actively seek out and develop opportunities for interdisciplinary research
Play an active role in project management, including the preparation of proposals for research funding, and monitoring research budgets
Support supervision of postgraduate research students and take responsibility for their training

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Substantial professional experience of research
Strong background and experience in bioinformatics and programming
A significant publication record for the discipline, showing evidence of work of at least national quality
Substantial theoretical and practical proficiency with Python and/or R, and command line tools
Practical experience of analysis of genomic data (ideally including single cell -omics)
Practical experience of package development and using publishing tools such as Github
Good coordination, time management, analysis, and presentation skills.
Involvement in drafting manuscripts
Experience of project management, including contribution to the preparation of proposals for research funding, and monitoring research budgets
Experience with analysis of datasets from computational images (such as digital pathology) (Desirable)

Attributes and Behaviour
Demonstrates substantial bioinformatics skills applied to a broad range of computing and biological sciences.
Keeps up to date with new / improved bioinformatics knowledge, skills, techniques and research
Ability to work to deadlines and manage conflicting priorities
Demonstrates development of intellectual independence within your particular research field and academic discipline via your outputs
Ability to provide leadership to small research teams and to work with multi-professional teams
Possesses the ability to evaluate concepts/theories in order to develop original solutions and particular knowledge of, and expertise in, research methodologies appropriate to your area of scholarship
Commitment to development to include extensive reading and literature/bioinformatics methods review to continue development as a future research leader in the specific field
Expectation and willingness to work outside normal office hours including weekends and to work away from main laboratory site including national and international collaborative visits

Qualifications
A PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Biomedical Sciences, Physics or Engineering or a similar discipline with an interest in Life Sciences and experience in Bioinformatics and Programming

Research Associate

Key Accountabilities
Carry out research within agreed timelines, meeting project milestones and to an appropriate standard
Undertake research within defined area of expertise (e.g., bioinformatics, programming). You will be required to contribute to all aspects of the work, from the development of protocols through to production of the final report/paper
To ensure that knowledge and bioinformatics skills in your own, and related, areas of scholarship are extended and inform research activities and to develop collaborative networks to support analytical method development
Attend meetings and other events appropriate to the projects
Prepare papers for publication, and disseminate findings at conferences as required
Contribute to grant applications submitted by others and in time develop own research objectives and proposals for funding
Begin to write, with appropriate support, proposals for individual research funding or, where funders do not permit this, contribute to the writing of collective bids
Provision of bioinformatic advice for researchers in proposal development and grant writing
To present results from your own and your team's research activity, including information on progress and outcomes and input into the research project’s dissemination, in a variety of formats
Play an active role in project management, including the preparation of proposals for research funding, and monitoring research budgets
May be involved in the supervision of, and providing support to postgraduate research students or Research Assistants

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Experience of conducting research in an academic environment
Knowledge and experience in bioinformatics and programming
A significant publication record for the discipline, showing evidence of work of at least national quality
Theoretical and practical proficiency with Python and/or R, and command line tools
Practical experience of analysis of genomic data (ideally including single cell -omics)
Practical experience of package development and using publishing tools such as Github
Ability to work independently and as part of the research project team
Ability to prioritise key tasks
Good coordination, time management, analysis, and presentation skills
Involvement in drafting manuscripts
Experience of project management, including contribution to the preparation of proposals for research funding, and monitoring research budgets
Commitment to own personal development
Experience with analysis of datasets from computational images (such as digital pathology) (Desirable)

Attributes and Behaviour
Demonstrates bioinformatics skills applied to a broad range of computing and biological sciences
Keeps up to date with new / improved bioinformatics knowledge, skills, techniques and research
Ability to work to deadlines and manage conflicting priorities
Excellent organisational, communication and interpersonal skills
Commitment to development to include extensive reading and literature/bioinformatics methods review to continue development as a future research leader in the specific field
Expectation and willingness to work outside normal office hours including weekends and to work away from main laboratory site including national and international collaborative visits

Qualifications
A PhD in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Biomedical Sciences, Physics or Engineering or a similar discipline with an interest in Life Sciences and experience in Bioinformatics and Programming

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.

In addition we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.

Requisition ID: 25361