Main Purpose of the Job

Applications are invited for a Research Scientist to join the Laboratory of Dr Hildebrand in the Gut Microbes and Health programme at Quadram Institute Bioscience (QIB), based in Norwich, UK.

How do gut bacteria colonize new human hosts and persist for decades with the same human? And how does their genome evolve during a human lifetime to fit the habits and peculiarities of each human host? To answer these and follow up questions, the Hildebrand group received an ERC Starter grant (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/948219).

Our aim is to dissect the genetic basis of human long-term colonization and for this we have started a family centric cohort, PEARL-AGE.

We’re looking for an enthusiastic researcher interested in the inheritance and evolution of human associated microbes. The ideal candidate will have experience in either population genetics, metagenomics, or comparative genomics and working with human patient cohorts. We will use high-resolution metagenomics to track microbes - eukaryotic and prokaryotic - across individuals in families and to develop novel algorithms that allow us to identify genes under selection.

The candidate will quantify adaptive processes, that microbial strains undergo in short time spans (in some cases within weeks, in others over a human lifetime). To understand these evolutionary processes better, we will explore microbial genome plasticity using classical bioinformatics (such as assembly, genome binning, gene predictions), but also population genetics, and rely on 3rd generation sequencing data. The aim is to explore microbiomes at unprecedented resolution, to resolve eco-evolutionary processes determining resilience and functional plasticity of gut microbial communities.

Long-term, this work will contribute to developing the next generation of human gut microbiome treatments and enabling personalised & data driven medicine.

Key Relationships

The post holder will work closely with other group members, the line manager Dr Falk Hildebrand (Group Leader), group members, and key collaborators (e.g. Dr Chris Quince, Dr Naiara Bereza, Dr Rob Kingsley, Dr Richard Leggett). The applicant is expected to help in the supervision of junior group members and to represent the group at trainings. The applicant will have direct access to established PacBio/ONT, Hi-C and single cell sequencing facilities, as well as one of UK’s largest HPC cluster at the NRP.

Main Activities & Responsibilities

Percentage

Work with pro- and eukaryotic MAGs (metagenomic assembled genomes)

30

Investigate microbial adaptation in time series metagenomes

30

Use population genetic to understand gut microbiome seeding & persistence

20

Support group with tasks such as outreach, student supervision, writing grants

15

As agreed with the line manager, any other duties commensurate with the nature of the post, for example, contributing to the work of Institute committees
 

5

Education & Qualifications

Requirement

Importance

PhD in Bioinformatics, Population Genetics, Ecology or Microbiology, or equivalent experience

Essential

Specialist Knowledge & Skills

Requirement

Importance

Programming skills (C++ or Perl or python or R)

Essential

Ability to work independently on research projects

Essential

Initiative and a desire to learn, to innovate, and to move out of their comfort zone

Essential

Ability to troubleshoot and solve problems

Essential

Relevant Experience

Requirement

Importance

Familiarity with sequencing related bioinformatics, high resolution data

Essential

Proven track-record of research output at the appropriate level

Essential

Experience grant writing or supervising lab members

Desirable

Metagenomics or population genetics experience

Desirable

Interpersonal & Communication Skills

Requirement

Importance

Excellent communication skills, both written and oral

Essential

Promotes and strives for continuous improvement

Essential

Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to work alone and as part of a team

Essential

Reliable and conscientious

Essential

Additional Requirements

Requirement

Importance

Attention to detail

Essential

Promotes equality and values diversity

Essential

Willingness to embrace the expected values and behaviours of all staff at the Institute, ensuring it is a great place to work

Essential

Able to present a positive image of self and the Institute, promoting both the international reputation and public engagement aims of the Institute

Essential

Willingness to work outside standard working hours when required

Essential

Willingness to undertake any necessary training for the role

Essential

Quadram Institute Bioscience

The Quadram Institute is at the forefront of a new interface between food science, gut biology and health, developing solutions to worldwide challenges in food-related disease and human health.

We are engaged in fundamental and translational food and health research, alongside clinical studies, endoscopy and industry, working together to become a leading international hub for food and health research, combining scientific excellence and clinical expertise, delivering impacts on patient care and accelerating innovation.

The Quadram Institute is a diverse and multicultural scientific community. We thrive on our international and European links, appointing staff from across the world. Any candidate who would like further information on current or anticipated immigration requirements can contact the HR Team on +44 (0)1603 450888 or nbi.recruitment@nbi.ac.uk.

For more information about working at Quadram Institute Bioscience, please click here.

Department

Food, Microbiome and Health

Group Details

The Hildebrand group uses metagenomics to research the diversity, community interactions, and evolution of microbes in communities. Currently the group has projects in both human associated and environmental (soil, lakes) microbiomes, for which custom bioinformatic solutions are developed in-house to enable a wholistic microbiome exploration. We advocate strain-resolved metagenomics and develop the numerical solutions to work with MAGs intra-specific phylogenies. For representative publications relevant to the post please see (doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2023.05.024 , 10.1101/2024.09.09.24313184 , 10.1016/j.chom.2021.05.008) and www.falk.science for group information.

The Quadram Institute is based on the Norwich Research Park, which is one of the largest single-site concentrations of research in food, genomics, and health in Europe. The Park hosts 4 BBSRC Institutes (including Quadram), 17,000 students, 3,000 full-time researchers and clinicians, and over 115 companies. The outstanding reputation of our researchers is internationally recognised, with 10 of the Park's scientists in the top 1% of the "most highly cited" in the world, including Dr Falk Hildebrand.

Living in Norfolk

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• Schools in Norfolk
• Childcare in Norfolk

Research Scientist (Metagenomics)

Applications are invited for a Research Scientist to join the Laboratory of Dr Hildebrand in the Gut Microbes and Health programme at Quadram Institute Bioscience (QIB), based in Norwich, UK.

Background:

Join an ERC funded research project investigating the inheritance and evolution of human associated microbes. The project will be conducted in a multidisciplinary team at the Quadram & Earlham Institutes, UK, and combine newly established patient cohorts, concomitantly developed wetlab and bioinformatics protocols that enable a unique perspective into the human gut microbiome.

The role:

How do gut bacteria colonize their human hosts and families? How do they then persist for decades in the same host? And how do they evolve and adapt to their unique human host? To answer these and follow up questions, the group received an ERC Starter grant (https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/948219).  The aim for this post is to dissect the microbial genetics enabling human long-term colonization on a novel family centric cohort established in the UK.

High-resolution metagenomics will be used to track microbes - eukaryotic and prokaryotic -  across individuals and in families, and determine genes under selection. This will include closely working with metagenomic bioinformatics (assembly, genome binning, gene predictions) and combining this with population genetics and/or network inference algorithms. Thus, exploring microbiomes at unprecedented resolution can resolve eco-evolutionary processes determining resilience and functional plasticity of our gut microbiomes. Long-term, this work will contribute to enabling personalized & data driven medicine and developing the next generation of human gut microbiome treatments.

The environment:

The Hildebrand group (https://falk.science) uses metagenomics to research the diversity, community interactions, and evolution of microbes in communities using custom software solutions. The group has a joint appointment between the Quadram Institute Bioscience and Earlham Institute to bridge data and life science, developing software such as LotuS2 and MATAFILER and pushing the limits of high-resolution metagenomics.

The Norwich Research Park (NRP) UK, hosts 4 BBSRC Institute, > 15 companies, 3,000 researchers and clinicians, 17,000 students. The Quadram Institute is a new interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to understanding how food and microbes interact to promote health and prevent disease. Its mission is to deliver healthier lives through innovation in gut health, microbiology and food. A partnership between Quadram Institute Bioscience, the University of East Anglia, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and BBSRC, it brings together scientists and clinicians in a state-of-the-art building on the NRP, being one Europe’s largest centres for microbiology and life sciences (https://quadram.ac.uk/).

Norwich ranked in the top 10 for UK cities with a beautiful, historical town centre and an active gastropub & coffee aficionado scene.

The ideal candidate:

The applicant needs to hold a PhD (or equivalent) in biology, bioinformatics, computer science or a related discipline with a background and/or interest in at least one of the following subjects:

- Microbiomes & biodiversity
- Metagenomics & patient cohorts
- Ecology & evolution

The ideal candidate will have experience in conducting scientific experiments independently, writing papers, presenting work and grant writing. Basic statistics and programming skills (either R, python, Perl, C++, or equivalent) is essential. Specialized skills will be taught and developed through mentorship and collaborations.

Additional information:

Salary on appointment will be within the range £36,720 to £44,000 per annum depending on qualifications and experience. This is a full-time post for a contract of 19 months, potentially extensible for a further 12 months.

For further information and details of how to apply, please visit our website https://jobs.quadram.ac.uk or contact the Human Resources team on 01603 450814 or nbi.recruitment@nbi.ac.uk quoting reference 1004793. This role meets the criteria for a visa application, and we encourage all qualified candidates to apply.  Please contact the Human Resources Team if you have any questions regarding your application or visa options.

We are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sectors of society.  The Institute supports equality of opportunity within the workplace and expects all employees to share and display these values.  To support our commitment, we have a range of family, faith and diversity friendly working arrangements to help all staff achieve excellence in their area of work. As a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee to offer an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for this vacancy.

The closing date for applications will be 01 December 2024. Interviews will likely be held on 11 December 2024.

The Quadram Institute Bioscience is a registered charity (No. 1058499) and is an Equal Opportunities Employer.