Post-Doc Fellowship - HIV Diversity and Pathogenesis

13 Jan 2020
13 Jan 2020

Applications from suitably qualified individuals are invited for a postdoctoral research fellowship in the University of Cape Town HIV Diversity and Pathogenesis Group. This is an opportunity to be part of an exciting HIV research team evaluating host-virus interaction, pathogenesis, cure and vaccine breakthrough infections to aid in the development of HIV-related biomedical interventions.

The successful applicant will make use of data generated from next-generation sequencing technologies such as Illumina MiSeq and PacBio to elucidate viral evolution patterns to identify immune escape in HIV-1 infection over time and to understand the establishment of viral reservoirs in individuals who initiate therapy. The incumbent would also be involved in data analysis on other projects making use of these sequencing technologies.

Conditions of award:

  • Applicants must have obtained their PhD degree within 5 years and have not held any permanent academic and/or professional posts
  • Due to the source of funding the candidate must be a South African citizen or permanent resident
  • No benefits or allowances are included in the fellowship
  • As part of his/her professional development, the successful candidate may be required to participate in a limited capacity in departmental acivities, such as student supervision.
  • The successful candidate will be required to comply with the university's approved policies, procedures and practices for the postdoctoral sector.

Criteria:

  • PhD degree in Bioinformatics or another life sciences discipline with relevant bioinformatics experience
  • Experience with processing/analysis of Next generation sequencing data
  • Experience in at least one programming language (Python, R, etc)
  • Experience runnning programs/scripts using a command line interface
  • Strong statistical background
  • Ability to work independently as well as in a team
  • Ability to meet deadlines
  • Ability to critically analyze and summarize data
  • Computer literacy, and experience with Office software (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)

Advantageous:

  • Experience with evolutionary and phylogenetic analysis tools
  • Experience using version control software (Git)
  • Experience in analyzing sequence data from infectious pathogens
  • Experience with high performance computing and virtual machine architecture
  • Experience with Linux operating systems

Responsibilities include:

  • Processing, quality assessment and analysis of next generation sequence data
  • Contribute to manuscript preparation, routine report writing and grant writing
  • Contribute to staff and student training and student supervision
  • Actively participate in group meetings including presentation of project progress and journal clubs

Value and tenure:

  • The value of the fellowship is R250,000 for 1 year (Starting before the end of Feb 2020) with the option of renewal for another year based on satisfactory performance and the availability of funds.

Application requirements:
Applicants shouls submit a short letter of application, a CV including a publication list, copies of their academic transcripts, and email addresses of at least two references with whom the applicant has worked alongside or by whom the applicant was supervised. Please submit all documents in a single pdf via email to Dr Burna Galvao - bruna.galvao@uct.ac.za

Closing Date:

Applications must be submitted by no later than Friday 31st January 2020