Staff Scientist in Computational Metabolomics

A position as a Staff scientist in Computational Metabolomics at the Department of Plant Physiology, which is part of Umeå Plant Science Centre, is now available.

Last day to apply: September 2, 2024

Job Description

This position is part of our national support team of experts in the SciLifeLab Metabolomics Platform (www.scilifelab.se/services/) that offers targeted and untargeted mass spectrometry-based measurements of small molecules, reflecting metabolites and exposures, catering to researchers within the life sciences and biomedicine. The position is co-funded by the National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden (NBIS; https://nbis.se) that constitutes the Bioinformatics Platform at SciLifeLab, a national resource that provides advanced technologies and technical know-how in molecular biosciences.

We are now expanding our capacity to support life science researchers in metabolomics to transform complex data into meaningful biological and chemical interpretations. The successful applicant will be integrated in a national Computational Metabolomics Group jointly between the Metabolomics and NBIS Platforms. The work will offer excellent opportunities to further improve and develop skills to address application driven data science and bioinformatics challenges in metabolomics and also address multi-omics integration.

Duties

We are seeking an expert in using chemometrics, data science and/or bioinformatics tools and their applications in the analysis of metabolomics data as well as integrative omics. You will be responsible for supporting users of the Metabolomics platform in data analyses, advanced data-driven modelling, machine learning, multivariate analysis, and other statistical methods. This role will provide national support to the Swedish Metabolomics Centre (SMC), the Chalmers Mass Spectrometry Infrastructure (CMSI), the Exposomics Platform, and the Swedish NMR Centre. Through close collaboration with Swedish research groups, the expert will offer data analytical support across a wide range of studies under a “fee for service” model.

The complexity of data analytics will vary based on the research questions to be addressed. Examples of research questions include studying metabolic impact in different biological model systems to produce particular phenotypes, discovery of metabolite biomarkers related to disease, lifestyle or chemical exposures and investigating metabolic pathway regulation in relation to disease outcomes in large-scale cohort studies. Responsibilities include planning and executing analyses, communicating directly with users in academia and industry, writing and presenting results and reports and staying abreast of current developments in the field. In addition, the work involves providing advanced bioinformatics training to the Swedish metabolomics research community.

The role as Staff Scientist will involve regular internal and external meetings and learning opportunities, as well as time for professional development and the opportunity to learn from a diverse team of colleagues at NBIS and the SciLifeLab Metabolomics Platform. The work will include some amount of travel to other Swedish universities as knowledge exchange is an integral part of our operation. Professional development activities will focus on cultivating cutting-edge expertise for the analysis of current and emerging data types.

Qualifications

Required qualifications for the position:

• PhD in Bioinformatics, Chemometrics, Metabolomics or related subjects the employer considers of relevance to the position.
• Experience in advanced data analytics and modeling, including statistics and multivariate data analyses, of metabolomics data from high-throughput methods with applications in life science.
• Strong understanding and experience working with mass spectrometry data, including the biological interpretation of data to understand complex chemical and biological systems.
• Ability to independently perform data analysis and scientific deduction based on metabolomics data at an internationally competitive level.
• Proficiency in a scripting language such as Python, R or Matlab.
• Excellent communication skills in both written and spoken English and the ability to collaborate with scientists from diverse backgrounds.

Additional qualifications that are meriting for this position are:

• Experience in advanced integration of multi-omics data, such as metabolomics, exposomics, proteomics, transcriptomics and microbiota.
• Experience working with imaging data (e.g. mass spectrometry imaging, cryo-EM)
• Expertise in design of experiments.

“Reproducible research” and “FAIR data” are central concepts to us, and expertise in the development of reproducible code by using code sharing platforms, workflow languages and container solutions is a strong merit. Strong emphasis will be placed on personal suitability for the position, such as the ability to drive projects and work in a collaborative, yet service-minded environment. A willingness to learn new methods and to rapidly acquire new skills is important for this position. Consideration will be given to how the applicant’s experience and skills complement and strengthen the Computational Metabolomics Group and the scientific knowledge within NBIS and the Metabolomics platform in general.

Further Information

The position is full time and permanent. Probationary employment 6 months may be applied. Starting date 2024-10-01 or according to agreement. Umeå University applies individual salary setting.

Application

The application should contain:

• A personal letter that describes your qualifications, research interests, and motivation for application
• CV with full publication list
• Certified copies of doctoral degree certificate or equivalent and other relevant degree certificates and grades
• Other documents wished to be claimed

You apply through Umeå Universities e-recruitment system Varbi. Apply via the button at the end of this page: https://www.umu.se/en/work-with-us/open-positions/staff-scientist-in-computational-metabolomics_740060/. Documents sent electronically must be in Word or PDF format.

Registration number: AN 2.2.1-1071-24

The closing date is 2024-09-02.

Contact

For more information, please contact Kate Bennett (katie.bennett@umu.se) or Johannes Hanson (Johannes.hanson@umu.se).

About Umeå Plant Science Centre

The Department of Plant Physiology at Umeå University is part of Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC). UPSC is a centre of excellence for experimental plant research and forest biotechnology in Northern Sweden. Our mission is to perform excellent and innovative basic research and generate knowledge that benefits forestry, agriculture, environment and society. We work across a wide range of disciplines in plant science reaching from cell biology to ecophysiology and from basic research to industrial applications. Our common goal is to understand the plants’ ability to grow, adapt and acclimate to a changing world and how we can breed better plants.

UPSC belongs to two universities, Umeå University and Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. About 200 people from more than 40 different nationalities work here. We host some 30 principal investigators, and our researchers have access to state-of-the-art analytical platforms, unique tree germplasm resources and plant growth facilities. We strive for a collaborative work environment and support our scientists throughout all career stages by providing professional training opportunities and individual career mentoring.

About Umeå University

Umeå University is one of Sweden’s largest higher education institutions with over 37,000 students and about 4,700 employees. The University offers a diversity of high-quality education and world-leading research in several fields. Notably, the groundbreaking discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool, which was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was made here. At Umeå University, everything is close. Our cohesive campuses make it easy to meet, work together and exchange knowledge, which promotes a dynamic and open culture.

The ongoing societal transformation and large green investments in northern Sweden create enormous opportunities and complex challenges. For Umeå University, conducting research about – and in the middle of – a society in transition is key. We also take pride in delivering education to enable regions to expand quickly and sustainably. In fact, the future is made here.

Are you interested in learning more? Read about Umeå University as a workplace.