Open Positions

PhD position in Computational Genomics

The Animal Genomics group at ETH Zurich is offering a PhD position in Computational Genomics / Animal Genomics. This exciting opportunity involves investigating DNA variation of farm animals at the interface of computational and statistical genomics, and bioinformatics.

Project Background:

The project «external page OPISCOW - Origin, prevalence, and impact of complex structural variation in a large mammalian genome discovered through genome assembly at the population scale» was recently funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). This 4-years project builds upon previous research conducted by the Animal Genomics group that investigated the presence of structural variants in the bovine genome. We have collected large amounts of long read sequencing data (PacBio HiFi) toexternal page build genome assemblies and integrate them into pangenomes. This allowed us to external page investigate the distribution of structural variants in cattle and related species, construct dexternal page ifferent pangenome graphs, and identify external page trait-associated structural variants.

OPISCOW aims at investigating the de novo mutation rate of structural variants in a large cattle pedigree using highly accurate long reads and near complete assemblies.

Job Description:

We are looking for an enthusiastic and highly-motivated candidate to investigate long read sequencing data collected from a large cattle pedigree. There is also an opportunity to contribute to the development of a comprehensive bovine pangenome.

Profile:

• Research interest in statistical genomics, computational biology, computational genomics, or animal genomics.
• Experience with a programming language (e.g., python, R) and basic working knowledge with high-performance computing clusters is required.
• A MSc degree in genetics, genomics, computational biology, bioinformatics, animal sciences or disciplines related to the PhD position.
• Affinity to computational genomics, bioinformatics or statistics is a pre-requisite.
• The writing of scientific papers and active participation in international conferences requires good knowledge of English.

Link for more information and application