 |
 |
A 4-year PhD studentship in Statistical Genetics, starting September 2010, is available in Vincent Plagnol's group at the University College London (UCL) Genetics Institute (UGI, http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ugi/). My research interests broadly cover the field of human complex disease genetics, with a particular but not exclusive focus on autoimmune disorders. As a quantitative scientist I am interested in experimental design and data analysis, including method development, for genetic studies conducted in collaboration with the wide community of medical researchers at UCL, but also at other academic and medical institutions in the UK. Current research themes include association studies, human structural variation, quantitative analysis of RNA sequencing as well as viral sequence discovery using high throughput DNA sequencing. This exciting and fast-moving research environment generates many excellent projects for a PhD student with knowledge of quantitative analysis and programming, and with an interest in genetics and enthusiasm to work towards understanding the causes of human diseases. The actual project will be developed collaboratively between supervisor and student during the first few months. The ideal candidate has a quantitative background (mathematics, probability/statistics). Programming skills for scientific computing (for example R, C/C++, perl) would be useful but are not required and could be acquired during the PhD. Funding for this studentship is provided by the Annals of Human Genetics. The studentship covers tuition fees and a stipend for a four year period in accordance with MRC guidelines for students in the London area. In parallel to conducting research for his/her PhD, the student is also expected to contribute to the marking and organisation of the MSc in Genetics of Human Disease taught at the UGI. Applicants should contact Vincent Plagnol by email before 30 April 2010 (email: [log in to unmask]). Please include a resume, cover letter and the names of two potential referees. You may leave the list at any time by sending the command SIGNOFF allstat to [log in to unmask], leaving the subject line blank.