Post-Doctoral Researcher - 2 Positions, Ref: 5C & 5E, APC Microbiome Ireland

13 MONTH, FIXED-TERM, WHOLE-TIME POSTS

Position summary

APC Microbiome Ireland is a trans-disciplinary research centre, with clinicians, clinician-scientists and basic scientists from diverse backgrounds working in teams, sharing ideas and resources. Although focused upon the gastrointestinal bacterial community (the microbiota), the scale and scope of the work has become one of the fastest moving areas of biology. The microbiota is not only a target for treatment and prevention of disease, it is a repository for functional food ingredients and even new drugs and is a source of novel biomarkers of disease risk. The scientific organisation of the APC consists of a matrix of ‘spokes’ or themes of intellectual pursuit which are supported by multiple horizontal or shared technology platforms.

These two positions are within APC’s Gut Phageomics Laboratory, consisting of up to 20 researchers investigating the role of the gut phageome in health and disease.

The Post-Doctoral Researchers will work within APC’s ‘Gut Phageomics Spoke’ which is collaborating with a major multi-national pharmaceutical company to explore the role of bacteriophages in shaping the human gut microbiome. The Post-Doctoral Researchers will be expected to perform wet-lab analyses and characterisation of key gut bacteriophages as well as viromes in line with the project’s specific aims. This work will be in partnership with members of the existing team who will perform any necessary bioinformatic tasks pertaining to metagenomic analysis of the gut microbiome.

Qualifications/experience

The ideal candidates should have:

· A PhD in bacteriophage biology or on a relatable microbiological field.

· A skillset of phage biology and microbiology techniques.

· Experience with culturing gut anaerobes.

· Experience in investigating candidate bacteriophage for phage therapy potential.

· Hands on experience with in vivo and/or ex vivo models, such as fermentation.

· Experience with investigating the microbiome and the necessary wet-lab skills to do such (e.g. Nucleic acid extraction from clinical samples, PCR, NGS library preparation).

· Proven ability to design, manage and conduct independent research to a high level.

Project Title: Gut Phageomics

Post Duration: 13 Months

Salary: €37,873- €45,041p.a. (IUA Salary Scale)

For an information package including further details of the post see https://ore.ucc.ie/. Job ID: 040312.

Informal enquiries can be made in confidence to Professor Colin Hill, Professor of Microbial Food Safety, Principal Investigator - APC Microbiome Ireland. Email Address: c.hill@ucc.ie.