[Socbin] Two Post-Doc Positions in Epigenomics

[Per Stenberg]

Two Post-Doc Positions in Epigenomics

The positions are at the Department of Molecular Biology and within the Computational Life Science Cluster (CLiC) at Umeå University, Sweden

Project title: A collaborative computational and experimental approach to study the mechanisms of epigenetic regulation of genome expression

Job description: The aim of these positions is to synergize the efforts of two research groups (a computational biology group and an experimental group) to combine the computational and experimental approaches for understanding the molecular features of the key "transcriptional memory mechanism" formed by Polycomb and Trithorax group proteins. The successful applicants are expected to take an active part in planning, analysis, evaluating and publishing of scientific projects.

Focus of the research: All cells in our body contain the same genes, yet only a fraction of them is active in any particular cell. This, so-called, differential expression of the genome is exactly what allows multicellular animals to have cells of different types. During embryonic development pluripotent cells acquire a genomic program to express a specific set of genes and not express the others thus becoming committed to certain developmental fate. Such programming has to occur at the appropriate times and then be epigenetically maintained through subsequent cell generations by a "transcriptional memory mechanism". The genome of the stem cells has to be programmed too. This has to be done in a way that preserves their ability to become cells of any type, but prevent them from doing so until appropriate signals are received. Failure to control genome programming leads to developmental abnormalities and cancer. It becomes increasingly clear that the understanding of genome programming mechanisms is essential for successful therapeutic use of stem cells as well as for understanding developmental processes.

Three major goals are pursued: i) To use the combined expertise of Dr. Per Stenberg's group in bioinformatics and Dr. Yuri Schwartz's group in genomics to understand the molecular principles of the recruitment of Polycomb and Trithorax group proteins to their target genes in Drosophila and humans. ii) To unravel the mechanisms that allow Trithorax to attenuate Polycomb silencing. iii) To develop the computational methods and software for the analysis of custom and publically available genome-wide data sets that will be publicly available and could be used by experimental biologists with basic computational training.
Required qualifications:

·         PhD degree in an appropriate area

·         Proficiency in both written and spoken English
Computational Biology position:

·         Experience of working with genomics data and bioinformatics

·         Programming experience (preferably Perl and Java)
Experimental Biology position:

·         Solid knowledge of basic molecular biology techniques

·         Experience with insect/mammalian cell cultures or Drosophila genetics


Desired qualifications:
Computational Biology position:

·         Experience of analysing next-generation sequencing data

·         Expertise in statistics and statistical genetics

·         Theoretical knowledge of genetics, epigenetics and molecular biology
Experimental Biology position:

·         Experience with ChIP and Real-Time qPCR analysis

·         Expertise in genome-wide localization techniques (ChIP-chip/ChIP-seq)

Salary: 20 000 SEK tax free stipend/month (approximately 2240 EUR/month)

Duration: The positions are for two years with possible extension two additional years.

Application: Send your application and questions to Dr. Per Stenberg (Per.Stenberg{at}molbiol.umu.se) for the computational biology position or to Dr. Yuri Schwartz (Yuri.Schwartz{at}molbiol.umu.se) for the experimental biology position. Only electronic applications will be considered. The application should include:

·         Personal letter describing your fulfilment of the required and desired qualifications listed above

·         CV and list of publications

·         Relevant publications in pdf-format

·         Copies of important certificates

·         One to two reference names with contact details

Deadline: The positions are available immediately and will be open until suitable candidates are found.

------------------------------------------------------------
Per Stenberg, PhD, Ass. Prof.
Molecular Biology
Umeå University
SE-901 87 Umeå
Sweden
+46(0)90 7856777
WWW<http://www.molbiol.umu.se/english/research/researchers/per-stenberg/>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://mail.sbc.su.se/pipermail/socbin/attachments/20110508/9e1e12e4/attachment.html