Postdoctoral positions available in Semantic Web technologies, ontology, knowledge and data mining in biology

Openings for up to three post-doctoral researchers are available in
the group of Robert Hoehndorf at the Computational Bioscience Research
Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal,
Saudi Arabia.

Start date: Earliest possible
Location: Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
Employment: Full-time
Duration: initial contract 1 year (renewable up to 3 years)

Applications should be received by 15 Dec 2014.

Job description:

We are seeking to fill up to three positions for postdoctoral
researchers in a new research group working on application of
ontologies and Semantic Web technologies in biology and biomedicine.

The researchers will work in the research group of Robert Hoehndorf
(http://www.kaust.edu.sa/faculty/hoehndorf.html), a research group
which is internationally recognized for their work in biomedical
ontologies, and which has strong collaborations with the University of
Cambridge, Stanford, and other leading research institutes.  The
postdoctoral research will work on one of the following projects:

1. informatics of phenotypes, with applications in biomedicine and
   biodiversity: the researcher will be responsible for developing
   integrated and linked knowledgebases of traits and phenotypes, in
   the area of disease, drug effect, model organisms, or biodiversity
   (with a particular focus on marine biodiversity); extending and
   developing analytical methods that can reveal information about
   genotype-phenotype-environment relations using these integrated
   knowledgebases; and application of these methods to biomedical and
   biodiversity datasets.

2. data and text mining with structured data; the researcher will
   develop and extend data and text mining methods to incorporate
   information from graph-structured datasets, in particular
   hierarchical graphs (ontologies); apply and evaluate these methods
   on biological datasets.

3. data integration in systems and synthetic biology; the researcher
   will be responsible for developing methods for integrating
   computational models in systems and synthetic biology with related
   datasets (e.g., bioactive compounds, phenotypes, disease), develop
   and apply knowledge discovery approaches to (1) reveal physiological
   functions of bioactive compounds in large interaction networks, and
   (2) find methods to perturb these networks to induce new
   functions.

The postdoctoral researchers will be responsible for carrying out the
research, including presentation of research results at conferences
and in scientific journals.

Expertise required:
- PhD in computer science, bioinformatics or a related field (obtained
  after 2009)
- Programming skills (preferably Java or C/C++, and at least one
  scripting language (Python, Perl, Groovy, etc.))
- Experience with Semantic Web technologies, in particular ontologies
  in biology and biomedicine

Desirable:
- Background/interest in formal logics, knowledge representation and
  reasoning
- Experience with OWL, RDF, SPARQL, Linked Data
- Experience with pathogenicity analysis and analysis of phenotype
  data, or experience in biodiversity informatics (for project 1)
- Experience with natural language processing, text mining,
  information extraction, and machine learning (for project 2)
- Experience with computational modelling frameworks in systems
  biology (for project 3)

Language requirements: English

Postdoctoral researchers are entitled to a competitive salary
(commensurate with the applicant's qualifications), free,
fully-furnished housing on the KAUST campus, free medical and life
insurance, free education at KAUST schools for the postdoctoral
researchers' children, and relocation allowance.

KAUST will be responsible for the actual recruiting decision,
appointment offers and employment benefits.


How to apply:

To apply, please send your CV, a list of publications, the names and
contact details of two referees, and a letter of motivation by email
to: robert.hoehndorf@kaust.edu.sa

Contact: 

For any questions related to the position, please contact Robert
Hoehndorf (robert.hoehndorf@kaust.edu.sa).


About KAUST:

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is an
international, graduate-level research university dedicated to
inspiring a new age of scientific achievement in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, in the region, and around the globe. As an independent,
merit-based institution, KAUST's pioneering matrix structure of
academic divisions and interdisciplinary research centers enables top
researchers from around the globe and across all cultures to work
together to solve challenging scientific and technological issues.

The KAUST global research and education networks support diverse
talents, both on its campus and at other premier universities and
research institutions, through collaborative research agreements,
grants, and student scholarship programs. KAUST, open to both men and
women from all around the world, is governed by an independent,
self-perpetuating Board of Trustees. The core campus, located on more
than 36 million square meters on the Red Sea at Thuwal, Saudi Arabia,
was inaugurated on the 23rd of September 2009.

Received on Saturday, 29 November 2014 13:32:42 UTC