Postdoctoral Research Assistant

College of Life Sciences, Dundee University

SUBJECT AREA: Arabidopsis Non-Coding RNAs

A postdoc position is available immediately in the group of Gordon Simpson at the College of Life Sciences in Dundee, Scotland. The aim of this position is to annotate and assign function to non-coding Arabidopsis RNAs.

You will be working in a highly international research group that is passionate about working with RNA. We combine questions on development with state-of-the-art analysis of RNA processing and collaborate with other research groups in Dundee focused on computational biology and human RNA biology. For more information about the group see: http://www.lifesci.dundee.ac.uk/groups/gordon_simpson/.

The post-holder will deploy RNA Sequencing to a range of Arabidopsis mutant backgrounds and to purified RNA-protein complexes. As part of a £1 million BBSRC-funded research programme, the post-holder will work closely with a computational biologist who will analyse third generation sequence data for ncRNAs. This aspect of the project is a collaboration with Geoff Barton’s group: http://www.compbio.dundee.ac.uk/. Building on an ongoing collaboration between the groups, also funded by the BBSRC through another grant worth £1 million, you will join a team with leading-edge expertise in this area. Therefore an ability to work well in a team is an important requirement of this post and a basic feature of Gordon Simpson’s group.

Training, as required, will be provided in a well-equipped, well-funded and supportive environment enabling the successful candidate to extend skills and expertise. The College has excellent facilities for all aspects of research, including in-house and easily accessible services.

This position is suited for a candidate with a recent PhD and a strong background in epigenetics, RNA or Arabidopsis research, with first author publications in good scientific journals. The candidate should be able to demonstrate an aspiration to move on to an independent faculty position after their postdoctoral work.

The position is available immediately and is for 3-years. The starting salary is a minimum of Grade 7, point 29 (£29,099).

Dundee is a centre of excellence in life sciences research and combines quality of life with quality of science. It lies close to areas of outstanding natural beauty, including large sandy beaches and island and mountain wilderness. Rainfall charts show this is one of the most sunny & dry places in the UK.

A few facts about The College of Life Sciences at Dundee:

• The College of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee is widely recognised as one of Europe’s most vibrant premier biomedical research institutes. Truly global in its reputation, the College of Life Sciences is home to a community of over 1,000 researchers and support staff from no fewer than 57 different countries.
• The University of Dundee ranks 1st in the UK and is one of the top 25 Universities in the world for Biological Sciences (by citations) according to the QS World University Rankings.
• Readers of The Scientist magazine voted the College of Life Sciences the best scientific institution in Europe in which to work in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
• According to independent analysis of citations per paper over the last 10 years by Thomson Reuters, Dundee is placed 1st among all European Universities in Biology & Biochemistry and 3rd in Molecular Biology and Genetics.
• The College of Life Sciences won the BBSRC "Excellence with Impact" Award for 2011:- "This department was felt by the judges to have achieved an extraordinary range of significant impacts from their research. The department's research had led to wide ranging and tangible achievements of both social and economic benefit. It had an impressive number of staff engaged in enterprise activities, and had clearly understood how to incentivise, recognise and reward staff for their impact activities."

How to Apply:

To apply on-line please visit: www.dundee.ac.uk/jobs. If you are unable to apply on-line please contact Human Resources on (01382) 386209 (answering machine) for an application pack. Please quote reference number LS0115.  Closing Date: 19th November 2011.

The University of Dundee is committed to equal opportunities and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

The University of Dundee is a Scottish Registered Charity, No. SC015096.