Center for Quantitative Genetics, QGG at Aarhus University is recruiting two 2-year postdocs in statistical genetics. The candidates will be developing statistical modeling approaches used in genomic informed drug target identification.
Starting Date and Period
The positions are for 2 years and are available from 1 January 2022 or as soon as possible hereafter.
Short project description
The overall goal of the project is to obtain a better understanding of the biological basis of common multifactorial diseases such as Type 2 diabetes mellitus using information from a range of human genetics and functional genomics datasets. A better understanding of the underlying disease biology will enable a more precise and accurate identification of potential drug targets and a more precise identification of patients in the selection and development of clinical trials. The primary tasks will be 1) development of novel multiple trait statistical approaches for fine-mapping of genetic variants and estimation of genomic parameters (e.g. heritability and genetic correlation), 2) use these novel statistical approaches to integrate association genetics signals for a range of traits with functional annotations to identify and characterize potential drug targets for further therapeutic development. The project is a joint collaboration between Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG) and Steno Diabetes Centre Aarhus (SDCA), Aarhus University, Denmark. The project is funded through an externally financed research grant and employment follows the project grant.
Qualification requirements
- A PhD in statistical or quantitative genetics, computational biology or other quantitative disciplines.
- Experience in standard and advanced statistical approaches and modern computational tools.
- Experience in handling large-scale human genetics and functional genomics datasets
- Experience in analyzing large scale genomic and phenotypic data (e.g. genome-wide association analysis, genomic prediction or polygenic risk scoring)
- Excellent working knowledge of modern statistical software (R or similar) and working in a high-performance computing environment.
- Strong skills in oral and written communication in English
- Experience in one or more programming languages (e.g., Python or C/C++) is desirable.
- Experience in use of genetics and genomics data in drug target discovery is desirable.
Who we are
Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics
The institute like center, QGG, is a major center for research and education in quantitative genetics and quantitative genomics (www.qgg.au.dk/en) at Aarhus University. We perform basic and applied research within livestock and plant breeding as well as human applications within precision medicine. The research within QGG is characterized by a very close synergy between method development, basic analysis and application of the developed methods on practical problems across species in collaboration with industry partners. QGG is an international research Center with about 70 employees and visiting researchers from over 15 nations. QGG works in teams and strive for an excellent working environment. We therefore value self-leadership, open communication, respect for diversity and success in mentoring, supervision and teaching.
Steno Diabetes Centre Aarhus
Central Denmark Region has established the Steno Diabetes Centre Aarhus (SDCA) with a donation from the Novo Nordisk Foundation of 1.4 billion DKK. SDCA will play a central role in increasing efforts in diabetes in both Central Denmark Region, nationally and internationally. SDCA is consolidating as one of the world’s leading research environments in clinical diabetes research in collaboration with Aarhus University, the other Steno Diabetes Centers and other Danish and International research environments; in this way, SDCA will play a pivotal role in diabetes research focused on new efforts in treatment and prevention. The center is located at and organizationally a part of Aarhus University Hospital.
Place of Work
The place of work is Ny Munkegade 120, 8000 Aarhus C and the area of employment is Aarhus University with related departments.
Contact Information
If you have any questions about the positions, please contact Peter Sørensen, e-mail: pso@qgg.au.dk or Mads Fuglsang Kjølby, e-mail: mads@biomed.au.dk.
Application procedure
Shortlisting is used. This means that after the deadline for applications – and with the assistance from the assessment committee chairman, and the appointment committee if necessary, – the head of department selects the candidates to be evaluated. All applicants will be notified whether or not their applications have been sent to an expert assessment committee for evaluation. The selected applicants will be informed about the composition of the committee, and each applicant is given the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment that concerns him/her self. Once the recruitment process is completed a final letter of rejection is sent to the deselected applicants.
Letter of reference
If you want a referee to upload a letter of reference on your behalf, please state the referee’s contact information when you submit your application. We strongly recommend that you make an agreement with the person in question before you enter the referee’s contact information, and that you ensure that the referee has enough time to write the letter of reference before the application deadline.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to ensure that letters of reference received after the application deadline will be taken into consideration.
Formalities and salary range
Technical Sciences refers to the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Danish Universities under the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
The application must be in English and include a curriculum vitae, degree certificate, a complete list of publications, a statement of future research plans and information about research activities, teaching portfolio and verified information on previous teaching experience (if any). Guidelines for applicants can be found here.
Appointment shall be in accordance with the collective labour agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Further information on qualification requirements and job content may be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities.
Salary depends on seniority as agreed between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Confederation of Professional Associations.
Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.
Research activities will be evaluated in relation to actual research time. Thus, we encourage applicants to specify periods of leave without research activities, in order to be able to subtract these periods from the span of the scientific career during the evaluation of scientific productivity.
Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners. Read more here. Please find more information about entering and working in Denmark here.
Aarhus University also offers a Junior Researcher Development Programme targeted at career development for postdocs at AU. You can read more about it here.
The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University’s website.
Questions about the position?
Peter SørensenSenior Researcher, Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics+4587157594pso@qgg.au.dk
Questions about application and proces?
Nat-Tech Administrative Centre – Nat-Tech HR+4525695795Nat-Tech.HR.Emply@au.dk
Deadline: Monday 1 Nov 2021 at 23:59 CET