Postdoc and scientist position at Sanger Institute, UK

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Postdoctoral Fellow/Staff Scientist

This is a rare and exciting opportunity for a Postdoctoral Fellow or Staff Scientist to investigate wild African mosquitoes and malaria parasites as part of a project on natural genetic variation in these species of great medical relevance. The fieldwork will take place primarily in Uganda but with opportunities to expand to other regions of Africa, and we seek someone with commitment to the project and its goals including a desire to be based in Uganda (or other African sites) for long periods of time.You will take leadership on and be responsible for delivering two main facets of our large project on natural genetic variation. First, we aim to do genetic surveillance to understand population changes of vectors and parasites over space and time.

This will require a dedicated field biologist who coordinates large-scale collections of wild parasites and mosquitoes with detailed record-keeping. Second, we aim to carry out infections of mosquitoes with malaria parasites in our field insectary to understand the genetic factors that make mosquitoes susceptible to parasites. This will require someone who deeply understands experimental design and can coordinate the rearing and infections of thousands of mosquitoes while keeping careful records . The resources you generate will be then be whole genome sequenced resulting in open access genomes on these important organisms. The level of your involvement in the analyses of these data depends on your own interests and whether this is a postdoctoral or staff scientist role for you. In practical terms, the role requires you to be in charge of delivering high quality, meticulously curated mosquito and parasite samples back to the Sanger.The position requires someone who has a proven ability to execute projects and deliver results at a practical level while working relatively independently. The position will be tailored to fit those with or without PhDs incorporating further excellent training in population genomics and vector and parasite biology as desired. 
Job Family: Staff Scientist
Apprenticeship Role: No
Job Reference: 82090
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Salary range for Staff Scientist:  £30574 to £38564 per annum plus excellent benefits

Salary range for Postdoctoral Fellow: £30202 to £37860 per annum plus excellent benefits.

Essential Skills

Field experience, preferably in Africa, of > 1 month at a time working in remote locations

Standard molecular biology wet lab experience (DNA /RNA extraction, PCR, qPCR)

Experience working with insects and/or parasites, preferably mosquitoes/malaria

Detail oriented and highly organized

Dedicated effort towards meticulous record-keeping (thousands of samples will need to be individually preserved with recorded phenotypes)

Experience working with international collaborators

Ideal Skills

Proven track record of data analysis and publishing high impact papers

Experience working with cell culture

Experience of working at Containment Level 2

Other information

If applying as a Postdoctoral Fellow, please be aware the contract will be for 3 years.

The Sanger Institute is a charitably funded research centre focused on understanding the role of genetics in health and disease. We use state of the art large-scale genomic approaches to drive world-leading projects to uncover the basis of genetic and infectious disease. Our goal is to provide results that can be translated into diagnostics, treatments or therapies that reduce global health burdens.

The Institute is located near Cambridge, UK on the stunning Wellcome Trust Genome Campus. This growing and dynamic site is the British hub of genomic science. It hosts the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI), the Centre for Therapeutic Target Validation, a Biodata Innovation Centre and will soon host Genomics England Limited’s 100,000 Genomes Sequencing Centre. It is an excellent environment in which to work and collaborate with researchers on campus and around the world and benefit from cross-fertilisation of ideas.

To help researchers to develop their skills and networks, the Institute hosts a range of scientific seminars with internal and invited speakers, scientific group meetings and skills development workshops. In addition the Campus is home to the Wellcome Trust Advanced Course and Scientific Conferences programme and the Wellcome Trust Conference Centre.

Our Benefits include: Defined Benefit Pension Scheme, Group Income Protection, Healthcare scheme, Childcare Vouchers, Workplace Nursery and 25 days Annual Leave, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30, plus Bank Holidays. We also have a gym, two cafes, dining facilities, and a free campus bus service. Our thriving Sports and Social Club provides many opportunities to meet with people working across the campus.

To apply, please complete our application form and include a CV and covering letter.

If you would like an opportunity to discuss details of this position in further detail please contact Dr Mara Lawniczak; Group Leader via mara@sanger.ac.uk

Closing date for applications: 30th July 2015