PhD Research Scholarship in Bioinformatics
The candidate should have a strong background in the area of genome wide mapping tools with novel skills in handling large-scale high-throughput transcriptomics data to support the research work on breeding high-quality rice as part of IRRI’s priority.
The successful candidate will be supervised by the Head of Applied Functional Genomics cluster for 3 years.
Responsibilities
- Handling of big genomic data set, mostly whole genome resequencing data, with basic genomics analysis, such as annotation, genome assembly, sequence alignment, phylogenetic analysis, etc.
- Developing a bioinformatics analytical pipeline to make sense of this big data. Using different association mapping techniques, including genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and transcriptome-wise association studies (TWAS) to dissect the underlying genetics of grain quality parameters, by bridging through the systems-genetics approaches.
- Employing the expression-quantitative trait loci (eQTL)-strategies in the mapping populations targeted for grain quality traits.
- Utilization of high-throughput transcriptome data to develop the gene regulatory networks, to unravel the novel putative candidates underlying complex grain quality traits.
- Prepare reports, scientific papers, articles, posters, database for publication and/or presentation.
- Added knowledge on rice grain quality and nutrition will be added advantage.
Technical Skills
- Operating system: Working experience on Linux and Windows.
- Programming languages: Working experience on Shell Scripting, Perl or Python.
- Statistical tool: R
Duration: 3 years
Deadline: November 30, 2020
Notes:
- For PhD students: For students who are currently enrolled in their PhD programs, you are expected to conduct your PhD research on the topic mentioned full time at IRRI Headquarters, Philippines.
- For aspiring PhD students: Upon selection to the program, you will be given the opportunity to conduct preliminary research as an Intern on the topic mentioned for a period of 1 year. Upon securing the required research progress, your PhD application will be submitted to a German university. After you secure your PhD admission, your appointment will be automatically shifted from internship to PhD research scholar.