Computational Biologist - Virology (Postdoc or equal)
Join “The Laboratory for RNA-Based Lifeforms” in University of Toronto’s Donnelly Centre.
Together with Dr. Artem Babaian the work will develop the state of the art for the detection andsequence analysis of RNA viruses and virus-like agents.
Building upon the Serratus project (www.serratus.io) we will explore the far limits of Earth’sVirome. Briefly, we developed an open-souce AWS-cloud backed computing architecture toanalyze 5.7 million sequencing datasets (10.2 petabases) and discover >130,000 novel RNA
viruses (only 15,000 were known previously)… in only 11 days. Learn more in our first Nature
paper, or watch our ISMB22 talk, “Serratus: Hacking Earth’s Virome”.
We have a very collaborative and fast-paced research environment with international
laboratories. Our work aims to also create free and open data resources to catalyze the field ofvirology globally.

Who you are
Computational virology is undergoing a renaissance. We’re looking to support passionate,self-motivated scientists with a clear vision to take on high risk research ideas and move thefield forward. In your application provide evidence for initiation and follow-through of scientificideas. We’re open to applicants with expertise in the areas of computational biology.
Programming experience is required, although inversely weighted with biological experience.
Advanced algorithm-level coding experience is not necessary, but you must be willing tolearn/teach and converse with computer-science oriented scientists. Collaboration with andmentoring of junior scientists is expected.
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The Laboratory for RNA-Based Lifeforms. RE: Comp. Biologist Virology

Qualifications
Minimum (provide evidence please)●●●●

PhD in virology, ecology, epidemiology, genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology orcomputer science
Fluency (show example code) in >=1 programming language, such as R or Python
Highly motivated to learn, teach and pursue science across disciplines
Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Preferred qualifications●●●

Innovative in computational virology, genomics, phylogenetics, ecoinformatics, RNAstructure-function, and/or clinical/veterinary virology
Experience with “big data” and cloud-computing infrastructures
Demonstration of scientific mentorship, organizational and/or leadership skills

Where we are
The Donnelly Centre is located in the downtown (St. George) University of Toronto campus inCanada. We are embedded amongst several world-class computational biology groups and theDonnelly offers a cross-disciplinary repertoire of biological laboratories forvalidation/collaboration. The University of Toronto is the top Canadian university, and offers
countless opportunities for extending your academic experiences.
The start date is immediate/flexible, and we encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds.
The position can be full-time or contracted consultant, an ideal contact will be Toronto-local or
willing to relocate, but remote work is possible for an exceptional applicant.
We will be recruiting until this vacancy is filled.
Email your package to artem@rRNA.ca with subject Application id0001 - comp viro

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