Postdoctoral Researchers in Metagenomics

We are looking to fill two, 2-year positions as Postdoctoral researcher in metagenomics. The postdocs will employed by the Swedish Museum of Natural History and be supervised by Dr. Tom van der Valk at the Centre for Palaeogenetics (palaeogenetics.com). The positions are funded by a Wallenberg fellowship in Data-Driven Life Science and aimed at investigating biodiversity changes through space and time using (ancient) environmental DNA.

WORK TASKS
The postdocs will primary focus on the computational analyses of metagenomic DNA data obtained from complex samples (including snow, water, sediments, insect-traps and dental calculus). The aim is to develop computational tools that can identify species presence, as well as infer population genetic statistics from minute amounts of DNA. A wide variety of environmental samples and metagenomic sequence data is already present at the Centre for Paleogenetics, and the research projects will be adjusted according to the candidates main research interests. In addition, the postdocs will be encouraged to expand their research profile by developing their own new projects, applying for third-party funding and supervising students.

QUALIFICATIONS
The ideal candidate for these positions is a researcher with a PhD degree in genetics, biology, bioinformatics, or other relevant field. Strong knowledge of bioinformatics and computational genomics is essential, as is experience in handling sequence data using custom scripts and analysis pipelines. Additional relevant merits include:

- Experience in population genomics and computational analysis of (ancient) genomic data.
- Experience working in a Unix environment and strong programming skills (Bash, R, Python, Julia, etc.)
- Experience in computational pipeline development (e.g. Nextflow or Snakemake)