University of Bath
Description
Applications are invited for a BBSRC-funded postdoctoral position to join the laboratory of Dr Keith Vance at the University of Bath. We are looking for a self-motivated, enthusiastic computational biologist to work on a multi-disciplinary project investigating genome-wide mechanisms of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) transcription and chromatin regulation.
In this project, we will use the CNS expressed lncRNA Paupar as a model to investigate the mechanisms of lncRNA genomic targeting and chromatin regulation. We previously showed that Paupar interacts with chromatin at up to 2,800 sites across multiple different chromosomes to control large scale gene expression programs. Paupar binding sites overlap transcriptional regulatory elements and are enriched within close genomic proximity to genes of known stem cell and neural function (Vance et al. (2014) EMBO J). We will now perform chromatin conformation capture and high throughput sequencing (Capture-C) experiments to map genomic interactions with the Paupar locus in neural stem cells and primary neurons. This will enable us to:
(1) Determine the role of nuclear organisation and chromatin structure in guiding Paupar to its target genes.
(2) Identify the DNA sequences that control Paupar expression.
(3) Investigate the function of Paupar in controlling chromatin conformation.
The successful candidate will be a key member of the laboratory and will perform the computational component of this project. Practical experience using bioinformatics methods to analyse genomic and transcriptomic data, such as ChIP-seq and RNA-seq, and a willingness to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team are essential for this project. We will build on pipelines developed by our collaborator Prof Jim Hughes at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine in Oxford (Davies et al. (2016) Nat Methods) to analyse Capture-C data. Prior experience in the computational analysis of chromatin architecture would be an advantage but is not required.
This post is offered on a full-time, fixed-term (24 months) contract.
Qualifications
The candidate should have a PhD in bioinformatics, biostatistics, computational biology or a related discipline.
Salary
Starting from £32,004.
Application details
Please see www.bath.ac.uk/jobs to apply online.
Relevant web link: http://www.bath.ac.uk/bio-sci/contacts/academics/keith-vance/
Starting date: 3rd January 2017
Deadline for applications: 20th October 2016