Staff Scientist in Computational Metabolomics

Umeå universitet, Teknisk-naturvetenskaplig fakultet

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Staff Scientist in Computational Metabolomics

Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC) is one of the strongest research environments for basic plant research in Europe and is host to the Swedish Metabolomics Centre (SMC; www.swedishmetabolomicscentre.se). Research at UPSC covers a wide range of disciplines in plant biology including ecology, genetics, physiology, biochemistry, cell biology and molecular biology (see www.upsc.se). A position as a Staff scientist at the Department of Plant Physiology, which is part of Umeå Plant Science Centre, is now available.

Job description

This position is part of our national support team of experts in the SciLifeLab Metabolomics Platform (www.scilifelab.se/services/) that offers targeted and untargeted mass spectrometry-based measurements of small molecules, reflecting metabolites and exposures, catering to researchers within the life sciences and biomedicine. The position is co-funded by the National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden (NBIS; https://nbis.se) that constitutes the Bioinformatics Platform at SciLifeLab (www.scilifelab.se), a national resource that provides advanced technologies and technical know-how in molecular biosciences. 

We are now expanding our capacity to support life science researchers in metabolomics to transform complex data into meaningful biological and chemical interpretations. The successful applicant will be integrated in a national Computational Metabolomics Group jointly between the Metabolomics and NBIS Platforms. The work will offer excellent opportunities to further improve and develop skills to address application driven data science and bioinformatics challenges in metabolomics and also address multi-omics integration.

Duties

We are seeking an expert in using chemometrics, data science and/or bioinformatics tools and their applications in the analysis of metabolomics data as well as integrative omics. You will be responsible for supporting users of the Metabolomics platform in data analyses, advanced data-driven modelling, machine learning, multivariate analysis, and other statistical methods. This role will provide national support to the Swedish Metabolomics Centre (SMC), the Chalmers Mass Spectrometry Infrastructure (CMSI), the Exposomics Platform, and the Swedish NMR Centre. Through close collaboration with Swedish research groups, the expert will offer data analytical support across a wide range of studies under a “fee for service” model. 

The complexity of data analytics will vary based on the research questions to be addressed. Examples of research questions include studying metabolic impact in different biological model systems to produce particular phenotypes, discovery of metabolite biomarkers related to disease, lifestyle or chemical exposures and investigating metabolic pathway regulation in relation to disease outcomes in large-scale cohort studies.  Responsibilities include planning and executing analyses, communicating directly with users in academia and industry, writing and presenting results and reports and staying abreast of current developments in the field.  In addition, the work involves providing advanced bioinformatics training to the Swedish metabolomics research community. 

The role as Staff Scientist will involve regular internal and external meetings and learning opportunities, as well as time for professional development and the opportunity to learn from a diverse team of colleagues at NBIS and the SciLifeLab Metabolomics Platform. The work will include some amount of travel to other Swedish universities as knowledge exchange is an integral part of our operation. Professional development activities will focus on cultivating cutting-edge expertise for the analysis of current and emerging data types.

Qualifications

Required qualifications for the position:

• PhD in Bioinformatics, Chemometrics, Metabolomics or related subjects the employer considers of relevance to the position.
• Experience in advanced data analytics and modeling, including statistics and multivariate data analyses, of metabolomics data from high-throughput methods with applications in life science.
• Strong understanding and experience working with mass spectrometry data, including the biological interpretation of data to understand complex chemical and biological systems.
• Ability to independently perform data analysis and scientific deduction based on metabolomics data at an internationally competitive level.
• Proficiency in a scripting language such as Python, R or Matlab.
• Excellent communication skills in both written and spoken English and the ability to collaborate with scientists from diverse backgrounds.

Additional qualifications that are meriting for this position are:

• Experience in advanced integration of multi-omics data, such as metabolomics, exposomics, proteomics, transcriptomics and microbiota.
• Experience working with imaging data (e.g. mass spectrometry imaging, cryo-EM)
• Expertise in design of experiments.

“Reproducible research” and “FAIR data” are central concepts to us, and expertise in the development of reproducible code by using code sharing platforms, workflow languages and container solutions is a strong merit. Strong emphasis will be placed on personal suitability for the position, such as the ability to drive projects and work in a collaborative, yet service-minded environment. A willingness to learn new methods and to rapidly acquire new skills is important for this position. Consideration will be given to how the applicant’s experience and skills complement and strengthen the Computational Metabolomics Group and the scientific knowledge within NBIS and the Metabolomics platform in general. 

Further information

The position is full time and permanent. Probationary employment 6 months may be applied. Starting date 2024-10-01 or according to agreement. Umeå University applies individual salary setting.

Application 

The application should contain:

• A personal letter that describes your qualifications, research interests, and motivation for application
• CV with full publication list
• Certified copies of doctoral degree certificate or equivalent and other relevant degree certificates and grades
• Other documents wished to be claimed

You apply through our electronic recruitment system Varbi. Log in to the system and apply via the button at the end of this page. Documents sent electronically must be in Word or PDF format.

The closing date is 2024-09-02

For more information, please contact Kate Bennett (katie.bennett@umu.se) or Johannes Hanson (Johannes.hanson@umu.se).

We look forward to receiving your application!

We kindly decline all sales and marketing contacts.

The Department of Plant Physiology carries out research and postgraduate education in different fields of the plant sciences including, ecology, biochemistry, physiology and development, and genomics. The department is part of the Umeå Plant Science Centre, which hosts close to 200 employees and 40 principal investigators, representing about 35 nationalities. For more information please visit http://www.plantphys.umu.se/english/ and http://www.upsc.se.

Umeå University strives to offer an equal environment where open dialogue between people with different backgrounds and perspectives lay the foundation for learning, creativity and development. We welcome people with different backgrounds and experiences to apply for the current employment.

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