APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:
CURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process. Please do not apply here, apply internally through Workday.
CURRENT PENN STATE STUDENT (not employed previously at the university) and seeking employment with Penn State, please login to Workday to complete the student application process. Please do not apply here, apply internally through Workday.
Approval of remote and hybrid work is not guaranteed regardless of work location. For additional information on remote work at Penn State, see Notice to Out of State Applicants.
This is a term position; length of the term will be discussed during the interview process. Continuation past the term length discussed will be based on university need, performance, and/or availability of funding.
POSITION SPECIFICS
Penn State is a world-class national research university home to numerous National Academy of Science members, one of the top 30 national research universities with over $1.3 billion in research expenditures, and one of three institutions in the nation accorded Land Grant, Sea Grant, Sun Grant, and Space Grant status.
The Huck Institutes of The Life Sciences (The Huck) and the U.S. National Science Foundation National Synthesis Center for Emergence in the Molecular and Cellular Sciences (NCEMS) seeks an outstanding scientist to fill a Postdoctoral Scholar position dedicated to advancing the collaborative research of the Center’s Working Groups. NCEMS is an interdisciplinary research center positioned at the interface of data science and molecular and cellular biology. The Center provides leadership in the integration of diverse, publicly available datasets, enabling cross-disciplinary teams of scientists to synthesize knowledge and pursue fundamental questions at the forefront of the life sciences.
This position has the potential to be a hybrid of remote and on-site work, with a minimum requirement of 3 days per week on-site. This position is not supportive of fully remote work.
Duties and Responsibilities
Collaborate with center working groups to develop and implement computational methods for integrating, analyzing, and visualizing complex molecular and cellular biology data in support of their research goals.
Provide technical experience in the wrangling, harmonizing, and standardizing of existing biological datasets, including advanced experience with next-generation sequencing data. Implement comprehensive quality control measures to ensure data accuracy and consistency.
Provide expert advice to working groups and associated analysis in the area of evolutionary biology, including e.g. construction of phylogenetic trees and population genetics analyses.
Offer support and guidance on the selection and application of bioinformatics and computational biology tools and pipelines, especially those related to sequence alignment, gene expression analysis, and variant calling, following open and reproducible science best practices. Develop and maintain quality assurance protocols for workflows to guarantee the reliability and reproducibility of results.
Have hands-on experience in data processing starting from raw data for multiple modern techniques including examples from the list: RNA-Seq, single-cell RNA-Seq (scRNA-Seq), ChIP-Seq, DNA-Seq, ATAC-Seq, and Hi-C. Support the publication of intermediate data products, code, and documentation.
Stay up-to-date with the latest advancements in bioinformatics, computational biology, and available biological datasets.
Education and Experience:
PhD in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Computer Science, Statistics, or a related field. Solid foundation and expertise in Python and/or R for data analysis, scripting, and statistical modeling.
Mastery using bioinformatics or computational biology software (e.g. BLAST, GATK, Bioconductor).
Expertise in data wrangling, harmonization, big data analytics, ETL processes, and extracting meaningful insights from complex datasets.
Experience working with large-scale molecular and cellular datasets/databases (next-generation sequencing) —including genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic and lipidomic, epigenomic, interactomic and structural, glycomic, and single-cell multi-omics data.
Hands-on experience with the Git version control systems and Data Version Control (DVC).
Understanding of genetic principles, molecular biology techniques, and genomic databases.
Experience developing new bioinformatics tools as dictated by research needs.
Publications in peer-reviewed journals demonstrating contributions to the field.
Candidates must also have impeccable ethics and integrity with a strong work ethic, strong interpersonal and written skills, and the ability to work well in a team environment.
Candidates are required to provide the following:
A current Curriculum Vitae (CV) or Resume
A cover letter detailing the candidate’s interest in the role
BACKGROUND CHECKS/CLEARANCES
Employment with the University will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies.
BENEFITS
Penn State provides a competitive benefits package for full-time employees designed to support both personal and professional well-being.
For more detailed information, please visit ourBenefits Page.
CAMPUS SECURITY CRIME STATISTICS
Pursuant to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act and the Pennsylvania Act of 1988, Penn State publishes a combined Annual Security and Annual Fire Safety Report (ASR). The ASR includes crime statistics and institutional policies concerning campus security, such as those concerning alcohol and drug use, crime prevention, the reporting of crimes, sexual assault, and other matters. The ASR is available for review here.
EEO IS THE LAW
Penn State is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. If you are unable to use our online application process due to an impairment or disability, please contact 814-865-1473.
The Pennsylvania State University is committed to and accountable for advancing equity, respect, and belonging. We embrace individual uniqueness, as well as a culture of belonging that supports equity initiatives, leverages the educational and institutional benefits of inclusion in society, and provides opportunities for engagement intended to help all members of the community thrive. We value belonging as a core strength and an essential element of the university’s teaching, research, and service mission.
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