CALL FOR A RESEARCH ASSISTANT (BIOINFORMATICIAN) FOR THE "AI4Food-CM" PROJECT

Full Call for Application Resolution of the Call

IMDEA Food Institute (Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies in Food) adheres to the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researcher.


The IMDEA Food Institute is a research institution created by the Madrid Regional Government in coordination with universities, research centers of Madrid, and enterprises. Constituted as a non-profit organization within the framework of the IV Regional Plan for Scientific Research and Technological Innovation (IV PRICIT), it is conceived - structurally and legally - with the aim of bringing research into society.

IMDEA Food Institute is committed to excellence in research and to foster technology transfer to the industrial sector in a truly international environment. More information about the research and scope of the activities of IMDEA Food Institute can be found at the institute webpage http://www.food.imdea.org

Description

The available funding for this contract is linked to a single research project, therefore  the realization of scientific-technical activities linked to the research line carried out by the research group, requires its development in the form of the following research Project: "Artificial Intelligence for the Prevention of Chronic Diseases through Personalized Nutrition" (AI4Food-CM) awarded in the call for synergistic R&D projects in new and emerging scientific areas (2020), for the period 2021-2024, and whose main researchers are Enrique Carrillo de Santa Pau (IMDEA Alimentación) and Javier Ortega (UAM). The main objective of AI4Food is to integrate the latest advances in artificial intelligence (AI) with sensor (IoT), phenotypic, and molecular data of the individuals to generate a paradigm shift in the field of nutritional advice with the development of new digital tools for help in decision making.

Job description:
The functions to be developed are included within the activities to be carried out by the AI4Food-CM project, between 2023 and 2024:
- Primary and exploratory analysis of phenotypic, metabolic, metagenomic and digital data
- Secondary analysis of variability of the different variables collected by calculating measures of dispersion, average, bias, graphs, asymmetry, and hypothesis tests, among others, in relation to the response to food intake.
- Analysis of data obtained from biological samples: lipid panel, carbohydrate metabolism, microbial markers, metabolomics, inflammatory markers, cardiovascular risk, etc.; and its relationship with the nutritional and lifestyle variables collected.
- Search for correlations between the different variables.
- Classification of individuals according to their response to food using supervised and unsupervised grouping techniques.
- Identification of markers through the heterogeneous information acquired for each volunteer that allow predicting relevant nutritional aspects that may result in health problems.
- Reconstruction of metabolic pathways present in the gut microbiome of volunteers to identify pathways and metabolites of interest.
- Establish multilayer knowledge graphs to integrate data from different sources (questionnaires, nutritional, biological and sensors) and apply analysis techniques to explore the topological characteristics and identification of networks and subnetworks of interest.
- Develop automatic learning models that allow estimating possible modifications in the diet and lifestyle of volunteers
- Participation in training courses and seminars
- Carrying out research stays in international collaborating centers
- Participation in national and international conferences
- Participation in teaching and outreach activities.

Requirements

Education requirements:
* Education Level:
Degree/Graduated Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Physics, Food Science and Technology or other related
Official master’s degree in bioinformatics and Computational Biology.

Other Education to evaluate:
Additional training in Microbiology, Clinical Nutrition, Nutritional Genomics, Biomedical Engineering, Molecular Biology or Biochemistry will be positively valued.
The average of the bachelor's and master's degree will be positively valued to obtain competitive contracts to carry out a doctoral thesis.
English skills.

Other Professional experience & expertise to evaluate:
Curricular and Extracurricular internships and training stays will be valued positively
End-of-degree and/or master's degree projects in the area of bioinformatics and computational biology will be valued positively
Professional experience of six months or more will be positively valued
Participation in hackathons will be positively valued
Participation in conferences and congresses will be valued positively.
Experience with R, Linux, Python, SQL.

Other merits to evaluate:
Participation in courses related to molecular biology will be valued positively.
Adherido a la Carta Europea del Investigador y con el Código de Conducta para la Contratación de Investigadores
Obtaining scholarships and prizes will be valued positively.
Participation in research projects will be valued positively.
Preadmitted or admitted in an official doctoral program (Research Field: bioinformatics, nutrition, and health).

Skills (to evaluate in the interview):
Skills: Results orientation, with high proactivity, task management, problem solving, responsible.
Capacities: Organizational capacity. Ability to integrate into a multidisciplinary team.
Ability to work in a team with ability for personal relationships.

Selection Criteria

After the deadline for submission of applications, and once compliance with the requirements listed in the second base have been verified, the Selection Committee will proceed to assess the documented merits included in the curricula vitae and to select the candidatures that best suit the established requirements; then a second selection phase will then be opened, consisting of a personal interview.

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

Selection criteria:

I. Additional training to assess: 0-30* 

II. Aditional Professional experience & expertise: 0-30*

II. Other merits : 0-10*

III. Interview: 0-30*

Conditions

Type of contract:  employment contract for scientific-technical activities (art. 23 bis Science Law) in accordance with current legislation with a trial period established by law.

Dedication: full time (37,5 hours per week), flexible split day, from Monday to Friday.

Annual gross salary: 20,415 euro.

Incorporation: immediately.

Workplace

Headquarter of the IMDEA Food Insitute, Madrid (SPAIN)

Documents

 


Equal Employment Opportunity

Equal opportunities are guaranteed in the selection process, without any forms of discrimination. 

IMDEA Food commitment is to guarantee equality in measures to balance personal, family and working life and to promote gender equality.