Postdoctoral Fellowship: Youth Development 2694 views

The Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development at the University of Zurich is inviting applications for a Postdoctoral fellowship focused on youth development. The position is available under Prof. Mike Shanahan (for up to 4 years) with a strong interest in the interplay among context, behavior, and gene expression.

Responsibilities:

• The position is part of the research project “Socioeconomic status and the regulation of the genome” funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
• The main goal of this project is to use data from the US, the Netherlands, and Switzerland to examine how education, income, and occupation are correlated with gene expression patterns (mRNA abundance levels), as well as the mechanisms that might explain these correlations.
• This position will focus on data collected in the US (as part of Add Health) and, to a lesser degree, in the Netherlands (as part of the National Twin Register).
• The main goal of this position is to develop models that examine correlations among socioeconomic status and gene expression profiles, as well as possible mediating mechanisms.
• The position will start 1 May 2021.

Requirements:

• Applicant must hold PhD (discipline is open) with strong quantitative training.
• Working knowledge of transcriptomic data and bioinformatics is a plus, as is a solid background in R. Strong methodological knowledge and skills, good command of English (German is also “a plus”), and interest in pursuing an academic career.
• Candidate should have excellent teamwork skills and be interested in going beyond disciplinary boundaries.
• Energy, focus, and critical thinking are assets.

Applications:

Apply online and applications should include:

• a cover letter that relates the applicants’ experience and interests to the project
• a comprehensive CV
• a copy of the PhD dissertation
• the names and contact information of at least two references.
• candidates for the position are additionally required to submit an R code sample (URL or attachment).