Post-doctoral fellows in Statistical Genetics at The Pioneer Centre for SMARTbiomed

Two three-year positions as post-doctoral fellows in statistical genetics within The Pioneer Centre for SMARTbiomed to be employed at the National Centre for Register-based Research, Aarhus University, starting on October 1st 2024 or as soon as possible hereafter.

e are seeking one or more talented and highly motivated bioinformaticians and statistical geneticists to work on developing methods that combine health records, epidemiological data and genetic data to study the underlying causes of diseases.

The postdoctoral scientist(s) will join an interdisciplinary team of statistical geneticists, epidemiologists, geneticists, and clinicians, based at the Pioneer Centre for SMARTBiomed at the National Centre for Register-based Research, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.

Specific postdoc projects may include

• Developing methods to leverage functional data to better partition heritability, estimate genetic correlation, and fine map causal variants.

• Improve polygenic risk scores by leveraging thousands of correlated outcomes.

• Bridging the gap in prediction accuracy when applying polygenic scores to individuals of non-European genetic ancestry.

• Develop robust integrative risk prediction models that account for family history and medical records.

• Develop privacy-preserving benchmarks for polygenic scores.

The candidate is expected to collaborate with both clinicians and computational researchers within the Pioneer Centre on developing innovative computational methods and apply them to study brain disorders, cardiometabolic disorders, and reproductive health outcomes.

Depending on the specific candidate, this may include developing methods to improve risk prediction using health registers and genetic data; develop methods to infer genetic architecture of diseases and furthering our understanding of disease aetiology; develop more robust polygenic risk scores; or improve fine mapping of genetic variants by accounting for functional annotations.

The specific projects and tasks may vary based on the applicant's expertise. The position(s) will also include an opportunity for participating in exciting international collaborations, and for research visits at Oxford University and University of Copenhagen. 

Academic and personal qualifications 

• Background in data science, statistical genetics, quantitative genetics, bioinformatics, statistics, computer science, or related fields, with a relevant PhD degree (required).

• Computational expertise in analysing large health datasets, electronic health records, e.g. UK Biobank, All-of-Us, or similar sources.

• Experience with analysing large genetic datasets, e.g. using programs like PLINK, GCTA, bigsnpr, LDSC, LDAK, LDpred2, PRS-CS, SBayesR, SBayesS, or similar.

• Experience with machine learning approaches, e.g. penalised regression, deep learning, autoencoders, XGboost, or similar.

• Experience with programming in R, Python, C++, or other programming languages.

• Excellent collaborative, communication and presentation skills

• Scientifically self-motivated and creative

• Ability to work both independently and in structured groups, and take responsibility for the complete research process from idea phase to publication and presentation of results

• Fluent in spoken and written English (English is the working language)

We offer

• An exciting job in an inspiring research team.

• An informal research environment at a high international level.

• Experienced collaborators and colleagues from around the world, offering competent feedback and support.

• High influence on work tasks, study designs and choice of methods, and ideas from the candidate will be welcomed in all aspects of the work. 

• Training and supervision as needed.

• Possibility to participate in courses as well as national and international conferences.

About the Pioneer Centre

The Pioneer Centre for Statistical and computational Methods for Advanced Research to Transform Biomedicine (SMARTBiomed) will support a critical mass of researchers who focus on method and software development for analysis and inference from massive human data, advancing applications in medicine. The Pioneer Centre for SMARTBiomed will leverage large-scale, multimodal biomedical data combined with focussed innovation in statistical and computational methods including machine learning to advance our understanding, treatment, and prevention of human disease.

The Centre will be anchored at the National Centre for Register-based Research (NCRR) at Aarhus University with hub sites at Copenhagen University and University of Oxford. Prof. Naomi Wray, Michael Davys Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Big Data Institute at the University of Oxford is the SMARTBiomed Director. SMARTBiomed is funded by the Danish National Research Foundation, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Lundbeck Foundation, the Carlsberg Foundation and the Villum Foundation. Funding has been secured to support a 10-year research plan (until 2035).
 
SMARTBiomed will support a critical mass of researchers who focus on method and software development for analysis of, and inference from, human health-related massive data, advancing applications in medicine. We will create a vibrant international community of researchers, both virtually and in-person, providing an exciting environment of collaboration to attract early-career researchers from a wide variety of fields, working as a team towards unified goals.

The core mission of SMARTBiomed is development of statistical and computational methods focussing on causal inference (theme lead: Erin Gabriel), risk prediction (theme lead: Bjarni Vilhjálmsson) and machine learning (theme lead: Chris Holmes). This broad focus is ring-fenced by questions relevant to common complex diseases/disorders (specifically cardiometabolic, brain and reproductive traits), and ring-fenced by big data types that are newly emerging for exploitation (‘omics, longitudinal – usually electronic health record or biobank -  and clinical imaging data) by bridging omics and clinical big data, the Centre aims to facilitate the translation of these advancements into practical applications for improving human health.

About NCRR

NCRR – the National Centre for Register-based Research, Aarhus BSS is financed mainly by external research funds. The Centre houses an internationally acknowledged group of researchers in psychiatric epidemiology, regularly publishing scientific articles. In addition to its own research, the Centre also conducts guidance and counselling related to register-based research projects, validation and data management of register data, as well as development of methods for analysis of register data. Other significant grants based at NCRR include iPSYCH, CIRRAU and EpiPsych.

Place of work

Fuglesangs Allé 26, 8210 Aarhus V. 

Further information

Contact persons: Bjarni J. Vilhjálmsson, Professor, Email: bjv.ncrr@au.dk

If you need help uploading your application or have any questions about the recruitment process, please contact HR supporter, Line Møller Kristiansen, Email: lmkr@au.dk 
 

International applicant?

Aarhus University offers a broad variety of services for international researchers and accompanying families, including relocation service and career counselling to expat partners. Please find more information here:
https://internationalstaff.au.dk/relocationservice/

Please find more information about research opportunities at Aarhus University here: http://international.au.dk/research/

Aarhus University also offers a Junior Researcher Development Programme targeted at career development for postdocs at AU. You can read more about it here:
http://talent.au.dk/junior-researcher-development-programme/

Terms of employment

The appointment is made in accordance with the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities as well as the circular on the Collective Agreement for Academics Employed by the State (in Danish).
The job content and qualification requirements are described in further detail in the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Universities.

Application procedure

When you apply for this position it is mandatory to attach the following:

• Application
• Curriculum Vitae. You are encouraged to declare any periods of leave without research activity, including, for example, maternity leave, since your research activities are assessed in relation to your actual research time
• Education (diploma for master's, PhD and possibly higher doctoral degree)
• List of publications (the enclosed publications must be clearly marked on the list of publications)
• Publications. Up to three publications can be included in the application. In the event of several authors the publications must be accompanied by a co-author statement concerning the applicant's share of the collaborative work with the consent of the co-authors. Please use this template
• Teaching portfolio. The specific requirements regarding the documentation can be found here

Materials which cannot be uploaded together with the application may be submitted in three copies to Aarhus BSS HR & PhD, Aarhus University, Tåsingegade 1, 2nd floor, DK-8000 Aarhus C.

Read more about how to apply for an academic post at Aarhus BSS here

The evaluation process

After the application deadline, an assessment committee is appointed. Please note that the assessment of applicants is based solely on the material received prior to the application deadline. For further information, see Guidelines for Assessment Committee, Aarhus BSS.
The application must be submitted via Aarhus University’s recruitment system, which can be accessed under the job advertisement on Aarhus University's website.