• One of Australia’s leading research & teaching universities

 

At UNSW, we pride ourselves on being a workplace where the best people come to do their best work.

 

The Faculty of Science consists of nine schools, with more than 400 staff and 700 researchers. The School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences (BABS) has an international reputation in biotechnology, molecular and cellular biology, and microbiology, including proteomics and genomics, gene regulation, metabolism, environmental microbiology and infectious diseases. BABS teaches approximately 2,000 full- time equivalent students, and has 34 academics, 28 postdoctoral research associates or fellows, approximately 20 other research staff, 152 higher degree research students, 12 technical officers and 6 administrative staff. 

 

The Research Assistant will support ongoing projects by the Wook Lab within the School of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Science. The position will assist and contribute to the investigation of the pregnancy and early life virome (population of all viruses infecting humans) dynamics and its potential contribution to chronic diseases (e.g. type 1 diabetes, coeliac disease, asthma and allergy). 

 

The Research Assistant will assist with research tasks related to these projects, such as critically appraising genomic data through in-depth bioinformatics analyses and preparing data for peer-review publication.

 

 

The Research Assistant reports to Dr Ki Wook Kim and has no direct reports.

 

 

• Assist with curation, exploration, visualisation and statistical analyses of complex high-throughput sequencing datasets (metagenomic and human genome) for their association with clinical outcomes of interest (e.g. type 1 diabetes). 

• Assist with research projects focused on the human virome, involving a combination of bioinformatics and biostatistics under the direction of the supervisor. 

• Assist with troubleshooting of research protocols and implementing new bioinformatic pipelines. 

• Assist with supervision of research and/or data analysis performed by other team members related to bioinformatics. Assist with discipline-appropriate research activities, e.g. writing of scientific articles, protocols and literature reviews. 

• Participate in and/or present at conferences and/or workshops relevant to the project as required. 

• Critically appraise current bioinformatic methods and conduct systematic literature reviews. 

• Collaborate and maintain relationships with researchers and stakeholders associated with the projects and research groups and participate in meetings and discussions as required. 

• Align with and actively demonstrate the UNSW Values in Action: Our Behaviours and the UNSW Code of Conduct 

• Cooperate with all health and safety policies and procedures of the university and take all reasonable care to ensure that your actions or omissions do not impact on the health and safety of yourself or others. 

 

 

To be successful in this role you will have:

 

• A tertiary qualification in Bioinformatics, Computer Science, Molecular Biology or Virology. 

• Knowledge and experience in phylogenetics are desirable. 

• Developed bioinformatics and data analysis skills working with molecular sequencing data. 

• Proficiency with at least one programming language, preferably R or Python, and demonstrated experience in the use of relevant software and statistical packages. 

• Experience developing workflows using scripting, ideally with domain-specific languages (e.g. Snakemake, Nextflow). 

• Experience working with the command line in UNIX-like computing environments, high-performance computing clusters, and preferably cloud computing. 

• Proven high level organisational skills, ability to establish priorities, with excellent attention to detail. 

• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively with a variety of internal and external stakeholders from diverse backgrounds and levels of seniority. 

• Demonstrated ability to identify, analyse and solve problems to provide accurate and appropriate outcomes. 

• Ability to make sound judgements and work both independently and as part of a team. 

• An understanding of and commitment to UNSW’s aims, objectives and values in action, together with relevant policies and guidelines. 

• Knowledge of health and safety responsibilities and commitment to attending relevant health and safety training.

 

 

Contact:

Ki Wook Kim 

E: k.w.kim@unsw.edu.au

Applications close: December 2nd, 2024

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Find out more about working at UNSW at www.unsw.edu.au

UNSW is committed to equity diversity and inclusion. Applications from women, people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, those living with disabilities, members of the LGBTIQ+ community; and people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, are encouraged. UNSW provides workplace adjustments for people with disability, and access to flexible work options for eligible staff. The University reserves the right not to proceed with any appointment.