This call is made under the provisions of the Fourth additional provision of Real Decreto-ley 32/2021, de 28 de diciembre, de medidas urgentes para la reforma laboral, la garantía de la estabilidad en el empleo y la transformación del mercado de trabajo and the Order of January 30, 2023 of the Consejería de Economía, Hacienda y Empleo authorizing the IMDEA ALIMENTACIÓN FOUNDATION to cover 8 posts through a public call, charged to the specific replacement rate authorized by the Secretaría de Estado de Función Pública del Ministerio de Hacienda y Función Pública on December 30, 2022.

This rate is complementary to the ordinary replacement rate established in Ley 4/2021, de 23 de diciembre, de Presupuestos Generales de la Comunidad de Madrid para 2022 and the additional stabilization rate derived from Ley 20/2021, de 28 de diciembre, de medidas urgentes para la reducción de la temporalidad en el empleo público.

Job description:

Implementation and development of lines of research with large volumes of data that allow deepening the study and understanding of the relationship between food and nutrition in the development and treatment of complex diseases (obesity, diabetes, cancer, among others), through the molecular changes that occur in different cells and tissues,  as well as the microbiome.

The development and establishment of bioinformatics and computational biology strategies to integrate different data sources: genetic, environment, lifestyle or microbiome to advance the development of precision nutrition strategies based on individual molecular and behavioral profiles.

Develop tools to explore interactions between food and drugs, as well as participate in networks and collaborative projects to create standards that guarantee the interoperability of different resources and data sources.

Application of machine learning and systems biology methods for the classification of patients based on the characteristics of the intestinal microbiota, to understand microbiome-host interactions, focusing on the characterization of microbiome alterations in complex diseases, such as colorectal cancer, obesity or celiac disease, and in the study of the effects of food-derived bioactive compounds on microbiome modulation.

To analyze the variability of human metabolism using epigenomic and transcriptomic data to assess the benefits of nutrients and dietary supplements in cancer patients to establish personalized nutrition strategies.

Establish and participate in national and international networks that allow the development of bioinformatics in the field of health and food.

Participation in activities to bring science and the knowledge generated closer to citizens.

Functions Research profile.

-  Management and execution of the activities of the Computational Biology Research Group.

Develop the lines of research of the group:

-Analysis of molecular variability in response to food and its relationship to disease.

- Deepen the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of tumors and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and/or obesity.

- Develop methodologies and tools to explore and interpret the relationship between the microbiota, the host and food or lifestyles

- The creation of tools and databases for the aggregation and visualization of large volumes of data in the field of food and health.

- Collaborate in national and international networks and projects for the development of precision nutrition, and the improvement of health.

- Establish the necessary strategies for the internationalization of the group and IMDEA Food.

- Collaborate in the definition and execution of the strategic lines of IMDEA Food.

- Participate in scientific discussions and interpretation of results that require bioinformatic knowledge.

- Coordination of research projects and the work of the researchers involved in the Research Group.

- Obtaining funding for research (Application for research projects with public or private funding).

- Training of research staff. Supervision of predoctoral, bachelor's and master's students.

- Transmission of knowledge at national and international level. Generation of relevant scientific publications, participation in forums and congresses.

- Design and implementation of dissemination activities.

- Evaluation of the personnel in charge

- Establishment of collaborative relationships with other research centers and groups.

- Watch of scientific advances.

Required degree:

Doctor with a background in life sciences and bioinformatics:

PhD in Biology, Medicine, Chemistry and other careers related to the area of life sciences including master's degree in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Systems Biology or related area.

Other specific requirements:

- Have a postdoctoral experience with a  postdoctoral contract, not less than 10 years in public or private R&D&i centers or Spanish or foreign universities, related to the correspondig research Area (Computational Biology).

- Publications in prestigious journals in the area. H-index greater than 15.

- High level of English: demonstrable spoken and written

Curricular merits of the candidate, to evaluate:

• Relevance and contribution in scientific contributions

- Co-author in prestigious scientific publications (indexed in international databases), in some of them as first author or  "corresponding autor.

- Co-author in communications to scientific congresses, national an intenational, especially oral presentations.

- Co-author of tools and databases in open science format.

- Participation in competitive research projects with public or private funding (especially as principal researcher).

- Participation in research contracts with companies.

- International movility (long-stays in foreign research centers)

• Specific experience in the research area of the position:

- Experience with molecular biology techniques such as those described in the job description.

- Previous experience in analyzing large volumes of NGS data including those generated with ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, DNase-seq, Whole and Exome sequencing and others.

- Knowledge in genetics, genomics and epigenomics.

- Extensive experience in the management of genomic databases and genomic viewers (UCSC Genome Browser, Ensebl, etc.).

- Experience in tools for genomic analysis pipelines (FastQC, BWA, Bowtie, GATK, SAMtools, etc.), annotation (ANNOVAR, etc.) and prioritization process.

- Knowledge of programming in Shell Script, Phyton, Perl or others.

- Management of the R language and knowledge of statistics.

• Other curricular merits

- Scientific dissemination activities, academic teaching activity (national and international), participation in scientific management activities and dissemination of results.

Other merits Candidate's ability to lead the research line (Research Group): 

• Independence, relevance of scientific and professional experience and leadership.

- Direction of research works: coordination of research work, director of researchers in training, direction of final degree and master's degree projects; supervision of doctoral theses.

• Relevance and knowledge of the research line:

- Invitation and participation in international congresses, plenary speaker, courses and training programs in specialized schools. Teaching at the University.

- Participation in national and international networks of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology or related to the field of health.

- Work in multidisciplinary groups and international projects.                

• Leadership of groups / lines of research:

- Management or scientific coordination of work teams.

- Participation and leadership in consortia and national and international research research networks.

- Development of research with social impact.

Capabilities:

- Proactivity, professional leadership.

- Ability to work in groups and coordinate work teams, negotiation and conflict resolution skills.

- Communication skills

After the deadline for submission of applications has expired, and once compliance with the requirements listed in the second base has been verified, the Selection Committee shall proceed to evaluate the merits based on the curricula provided, and to the selection of the candidatures that best fit to the established requirements; in a second selection phase, a personal interview will be conducted.

The personal interview will consist of conducting a face-to-face or videoconference interview that will deal only with the merits claimed by the candidates in the competition phase and will be aimed at assessing the candidate's suitability for the position and knowledge of the English language. The interview will have a maximum duration of 45 minutes.

• Selection criteria:

I. Curricular merits: 0-50*

II. Other merits: 0-20*

III. Interview: 0-30

Type of contract: permanet full-time employment contract with trial period established by law.

Dedication: full-time, 37.5 hours per week, from Monday to Friday.

Duratio: permanent

Incorporación: immediately after the selection process.

Headquarter of the IMDEA Food Insitute, Madrid (SPAIN)