University of Toronto
Toronto
, Ontario
Canada
Postdoctoral
PhD
After nearly ten years at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the Gillis lab is moving to the University of Toronto, where the PI has been appointed Associate Professor and Bassingthwaighte Chair in Integrative Physiology. Positions are available for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and bioinformaticians.
The successful candidates will join a team working to understand the molecular and functional basis of cellular properties in diverse systems, including mammalian brains. This is a largescale project involving a number of complementary positions, ranging from bioinformatics, to neuroscience, to molecular genetics. While the position is solely computational, all projects involve substantial collaboration with wet-lab researchers who will be generating unique data for our analysis. This interdisciplinary work offers opportunities to address important questions in computational biology and molecular genetic with first access to large novel data sets from single-cell RNA-seq. The expected duration of the position is approximately 3-5 years with renewal at the end of each year.
A major conceptual focus of the project will be developing new ways of assessing gene expression across a large corpus of species to study the evolution of cell types. The positions offer substantial scope for training candidates interested in making a leap from computer science, evolutionary biology, neuroscience or genetics to data-focused research, particularly if it has arisen informally in their previous work.
Learn and develop robust analysis methods for gene expression Design novel approaches to characterize cell identity Collaborate and communicate, formally (e.g., papers, talks) and informally (e.g., consortium meetings) Have fun (?)
This research sits at the intersection of computational biology and molecular genetics. A strong candidate would have expertise in one of these areas and an interest in learning about the other. While a broad range of backgrounds are suitable for this position, a PhD in bioinformatics or computational biology is desirable.
A particular focus of our methodological research is replicability and meta-analysis and an interest in these areas is helpful. Experience with either Python or R is a plus.
Strong applicants without a formal computational background will also be considered, particularly if they are familiar with standard bioinformatics tools.
How to Apply
Please include a letter of interest outlining your research accomplishments and include the contact information of at least two references. Applications can be sent directly to jesse.gillis@utoronto.ca.
Big Data
Genomics
RNA
Single-cell
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