This postdoctoral fellow position will be associated to a large research project on the early life microbiome in humans. The project is part of the Copenhagen Prospective Study of Asthma in Childhood (COPSAC) and aim to characterize the human microbiome in early life and elucidate any correlations with development of disease later in life.

Immune diseases such as asthma, allergy, inflammatory bowel disease and type 1 diabetes have shown a parallel increase in prevalence during recent decades in westernized countries. As part of the departments work on the COPSAC2010 unselected birth cohort we will investigate which role the early life microbiota has in development of such diseases. The main tasks in this project will be lead the metagenomic sequencing of thousands of microbiome samples and the following bioinformatic analysis of metagenome sequencing data and integration of data from clinical examinations of the COPSAC2010 cohort.

The position is for 3 years and is funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The project will be carried out at Section of Microbiology, Department of Biology and the COPSAC Center, Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, University of Copenhagen. The position is to be filled from the 1st of December 2018 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Qualifications: 
We are looking for a highly motivated bioinformatics researcher with experience in analysis of microbial metagenomic data. Furthermore the researcher should have a wet lab history to assist setting up experiments and a proven record of scientific writing.

• PhD degree (or equivalent) in Bioinformatics, Microbiology, Biochemistry or similar
• extensive experience with analysis of large metagenomic data sets (including sequence assembly, functional annotation, strain-level analysis)
• extensive experience building NGS analysis pipelines preferably with both metagenomic and amplicon sequences, including version control (preferably Git)
• extensive knowledge of statistical analysis, including multivariate analysis, statistical learning and temporal analyses
• hands on experience with next generation sequencing
• a strong theoretical background in the ecology of microbes and/or in host-associated microbiomes
• proven publication track record
• fluency in English
• you will be able to engage in teamwork within the group and our collaborators
• extensive experience in applied research projects related to microbiology

Further information on the Department is linked at http://www.science.ku.dk/english/about-the-faculty/organisation/.