Computational Biologist/Bioinformatician

COLLEGE OF MVLS

School of Infection and Immunity

Job Purpose

The post holder will join the Bioinformatics group at the School of Infection and Immunity, MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) (https://bioinformatics.cvr.ac.uk) to carry out research on virus evolution and variant-effect prediction working with the bioinformatics team and Dr Chris Illingworth on hospital outbreak data. The post will involve using computational and bioinformatics methods to assess mutation effects in the context of protein structure and phenotypic properties for virus genome datasets of relevance to strategic priorities of the CVR. The part of the project with Dr Illingworth will involve the processing of data from simulated hospital outbreaks, evaluating potential strategies for using viral genome sequence data to inform infection prevention and control decisions.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

1. To organise and analyse real and synthetic data describing hospital outbreaks, simulating the impact of different decisions by hospital staff involved in infection prevention and control.

2. To perform research using bioinformatics and computational approaches applied to virus genome data. A main focus will be evolutionary inference, contextualising virus mutations and associated variants phenotypically with the purpose of predicting future evolutionary trajectories for viruses of pandemic potential and of strategic relevance to the CVR.

3. Plan and conduct assigned research individually or jointly in accordance with the project deliverables.

4. To assist and contribute to the delivery of the project’s research objectives.

5. To interact with other computational biology researchers at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research.

6. To develop and enhance your individual research profile and reputation and that of the University of Glasgow, including writing and contributing to publications to communicate findings.

7. Contribute to the presentation of work at international and national conferences, seminars, and workshops to develop and enhance our research profile.

8. Keep up-to-date with relevant bioinformatics and virus literature and develop expertise on hospital outbreaks.

9. Engage in continuing professional development activities as appropriate.

10. Contribute to the supervision, mentoring and training of undergraduate or postgraduate students and less experienced members of the project team to ensure their effective development.

11. Engage in personal, professional and career development, to enhance both specialist and transferable skills in accordance with desired career trajectory.

12. Contribute to the enhancement of the University’s international profile in line with the University’s Strategic Plan, World Changers Together.

For Appointment at Grade 7

13. Perform the above duties with a higher degree of independence, leadership and responsibility, particularly in relation to planning, funding, collaborating and publishing research.

14. To help develop and maintain external collaborations, nationally and internationally in line with the project goals.

15. A track record of independent and joint published research to establish and maintain your expert reputation in the subject and related areas.

16. To sustain an international profile for the project through presentation of results at national and international conferences.

These key tasks are not intended to be exhaustive but simply highlight a number of major tasks the staff member may reasonably be expected to perform. Activities may be subject to amendment over time as the role develops and/or priorities evolve.

Please note that as part of your application you must address and demonstrate how you meet the essential/desirable criteria. If you do not address each criterion in the format explained below you will not be shortlisted for interview.

Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Qualifications/Knowledge

Essential:

A1. Scottish Credit and Qualification level 10 (Honours degree) in a relevant subject such as computer science, statistics, computational and/or evolutionary biology, ideally with experience of a biological domain; may be working towards a post-graduate qualification such as a Masters (Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 11) or PhD (Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 12).

Or Equivalent professional qualifications in a relevant academic/research discipline, and experience of personal development in a similar role.

A2. Excellent understanding of phylogenetics and molecular evolution.

Desirable:

B1. Masters and/or PhD level training in a relevant field.

For Appointment at Grade 7:

A3. Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 12 (PhD) in a relevant subject such as computer science, statistics, computational and/or evolutionary biology with at least 2 years post-doctoral experience in a similar or related role or equivalent professional qualifications in a relevant academic/research discipline, and experience of personal development in a similar role.

Knowledge and Skills

Essential:

C1. Excellent bioinformatics/computational biology skills.

C2. Excellent data analysis and research skills.

C3. Excellent communication skills, both oral and written.

C4. Excellent interpersonal and presentation skills.

C5. Excellent time and project management skills.

C6. Ability to write software appropriate to research projects.

C7. Ability to work independently and as part of a team.

C8. Ability to communicate highly complex/technical information and data verbally and in writing for a range of audiences.

C9. Demonstrated high quality research outputs.

C10. Understanding and experience of relevant biological datasets.

For Appointment at Grade 7:

C11. Proven ability to plan and efficiently collaborate with others and deploy resources in support of major research activities.

C12. Demonstrated ability to contribute to publish research.

Experience

Essential:

E1. Demonstrated experience of computational biology, biostatistics and/or bioinformatics research ideally in a biomedical domain.

E2. Demonstrated experience of publishing in computational biology or genomics.

E3. Experience in a programming or scripting language, ideally, Python.

E4. Experience in analysis of genomics data.

E5. Experience in writing scientific reports, projects or publications.

E6. Experience of delivering research/technical support seminars.

E7. Experience in Unix/Linux operating systems.

E8. Track record in the writing software for data processing and analysis.

E9. Experience of optimising the presentation and dissemination of complex results/data.

E10. Experience of communicating with researchers to understand the bioinformatics analysis requirements and explain the techniques used and results generated.

For Appointment at Grade 7: 

E11. Sufficient breadth and/or depth of knowledge in the specialist subject/discipline, including independence illustrated by support or development of database and/or web resources.

E12. Experience of leading on highly complex data analysis and web resource projects.

Additional Details

This position is available on a full-time basis from September 2025 to June 2027.

The post is suited to a motivated individual preferably with a Masters and or PhD level training in a relevant field, driven by scientific curiosity. The successful candidate will have a track record in data integration and analysis with an excellent understanding of computational biology, bioinformatics and statistics. Experience with genomics data, protein structure, virology, evolutionary research or modelling would be a distinct advantage.

Informal enquiries may be directed to Chris Illingworth, Christopher.Illingworth@glasgow.ac.uk or David L Robertson, David.l.robertson@glasgow.ac.uk.

Terms and Conditions

Grade 6/7, £33,482- £37,174/£40,497- £45,413 per annum

This position is full time and has funding until 30 June 2027.

The University of Glasgow has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.  If you require a Skilled Worker visa to work in the UK, you will be required to meet the eligibility requirements of the visa route to be assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship.

Please note that this post may be eligible to be sponsored under the Skilled Worker visa route if tradeable points can be used under the Skilled Worker visa rules. For more information please visit: https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa.

As a valued member of our team, you can expect:

1 A warm welcoming and engaging organisational culture, where your talents are developed and nurtured, and success is celebrated and shared.

2 An excellent employment package with generous terms and conditions including 41 days of leave for full time staff, pension - pensions handbook https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/payandpensions/pensions/, benefits and discount packages.

3 A flexible approach to working.

4 A commitment to support your health and wellbeing, including a free 6-month UofG Sport membership for all new staff joining the University  https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/staff/healthwellbeing/.

 We believe that we can only reach our full potential through the talents of all. Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of our values. Applications are particularly welcome from across our communities and in particular people from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community, and other protected characteristics who are under-represented within the University. Read more on how the University promotes and embeds all aspects of equality and diversity within our community https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/humanresources/equalitydiversity/.

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We endorse the principles of Athena Swan https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/humanresources/equalitydiversity/athenaswan/ and hold bronze, silver and gold awards across the University.

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We are investing in our organisation, and we will invest in you too. Please visit our website https://www.gla.ac.uk/explore/jobs/ for more information.

Closing Date: 18 June 2025 at 23:45