Research Associate

**Job no**: 528765
**Work type**: Full Time
**Location**: Sydney, NSW
**Categories**: Post Doctoral Research Associate
- **One of Australia’s leading research & teaching universities**
- **Vibrant campus life with a strong sense of community & inclusion**
- **Enjoy a career that makes a difference by collaborating & learning from the best**

**At UNSW, we pride ourselves on being a workplace where the best people come to do their best work.**

The Faculty of Science consists of nine schools, with more than 400 staff and 700 researchers. The School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences (BABS) has an international reputation in biotechnology, molecular and cellular biology, and microbiology, including proteomics and genomics, gene regulation, metabolism, environmental microbiology and infectious diseases. BABS teaches approximately 2,000 full
- time equivalent students, and has 34 academics, 28 postdoctoral research associates or fellows, approximately 20 other research staff, 152 higher degree research students, 12 technical officers and 6 administrative staff.

The Research Associate (Level A) will contribute to research projects by the Wook Lab within the School of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Science. They will contribute to the investigation of the pregnancy and early life virome (population of all viruses infecting humans) dynamics and its potential contribution to chronic diseases (e.g. type 1 diabetes, coeliac disease, asthma and allergy).

The position will involve completing research tasks related to these projects, such as performing laboratory experiments, critically appraising genomic data through in-depth bioinformatics analyses, supervising research assistants and students and preparing data for peer-review publication.

**About the role**
- **Level A ($110k - $117k) plus 17% Superannuation and annual leave loading**
- **Fixed Term - 12 months**
- **Full-time (35 hours per week)**

The role reports to Dr Ki Wook Kim and has no direct reports.

**Specific responsibilities for this role include**:

- Process clinical research samples and prepare samples for next generation sequencing (NGS) analysis.
- Carry out curation, exploration, visualisation and statistical analyses of complex high-throughput sequencing datasets (metagenomic and human genome) for their association with clinical outcomes of interest (e.g. type 1 diabetes).
- Independently design and undertake research projects focused on the human virome, involving a combination of laboratory experiments, bioinformatics and biostatistics.
- Optimising and troubleshooting of research protocols, robotics and established bioinformatic pipelines.
- Identify competitive funding opportunities and contribute to the development and preparation of funding proposals.
- Supervise research and/or data analysis performed by other team members related to laboratory experiments and bioinformatics.
- Writing of scientific articles, protocols and presenting research findings at conferences.
- Perform project coordination, communication with collaborators, writing of progress reports and preparation of documents for laboratory certifications, e.g. NATA accreditation.
- Other relevant research-related duties as requested by the supervisor.
- Align with and actively demonstrate the UNSW Values in Action: Our Behaviours and the UNSW Code of Conduct.
- Cooperate with all health and safety policies and procedures of the university and take all reasonable care to ensure that your actions or omissions do not impact on the health and safety of yourself or others.

**About the successful applicant**

**(Selection Criteria)**

To be successful in this role you will have:

- A PhD in Bioinformatics, Computer Science, Molecular Biology or Virology.
- Excellent track record of research in a related discipline, which has resulted in peer-reviewed publications.
- Highly developed bioinformatics and data analysis skills working with molecular sequencing data.
- Proficiency with at least one programming language, preferably R or Python, and demonstrated experience in the use of relevant software and statistical packages.
- Experience working with the command line in UNIX-like computing environments, high-performance computing clusters, and preferably cloud computing.
- Demonstrated ability to conceptualise novel research questions in areas relevant to bioinformatics analyses of viral or microbial genomes, and to develop these into research outputs.
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
- Demonstrated ability to work in a team, collaborate across disciplines and build effective relationships.
- An understanding of and commitment to UNSW’s aims, objectives and values in action, together with relevant policies and guidelines.
- Knowledge of health and safety responsibilities and commitment to attending relevant health and safety training.

Contact:
Ki Wook Kim

Applications close: December 6th, 2024

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