The contract is funded by the Community of Madrid through the Grant Ref. AI4FOOD-Y2020/TCS-6654, acronym “AI4Food-CM”, in the framework of the 2020 Call for the realization of synergistic R&D projects in new and emerging scientific areas at the frontier of science and of an interdisciplinary nature (Order 93/2020, of July 2, of the Regional Minister of Education and Research).

The funding available for this contracting is linked to a single research project; the performance of scientific-technical activities linked to the line of research carried out by the research group, requires its development in the form of the following research project: “AI4FOOD -Y2020/TCS-6654: Artificial Intelligence for the Prevention of Chronic Diseases through Personalized Nutrition” funded by the Community of Madrid in the framework of the 2020 Call for grants for the realization of synergistic R&D projects in new and emerging scientific areas at the frontier of science and of interdisciplinary nature (2020), for the period 2021-2024, and whose principal investigators are D. 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 data (IoT), phenotypic, and molecular data of the individual to generate a paradigm shift in the field of nutritional advice with the development of new digital tools to aid in decision making.

Main functions to be developed:

 The scientific-technical activities to be developed by the research assistant as bioinformatician for the research line are encompassed within the activities to be performed within the AI4Food-CM project, until the end of the project (31/12/2024):
- Primary and exploratory analysis of phenotypic, metabolic, metabolomic and digital data.
- Secondary analysis of variability of the different variables collected by calculating measures of dispersion, average, bias, plots, skewness and hypothesis testing, among others, in relation to the response to food intake.
- Analysis of data obtained from biological samples: lipid panel, carbohydrate metabolism, microbial markers, metabolomics, metabolomics, markers, 

inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular risk, etc.; and their relationship with the nutritional and lifestyle variables collected.

-Search for correlations between the different variables.

- Classification of individuals according to their response to food by means of 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 origins (questionnaires, nutritional, biological and sensors) and apply analysis techniques to explore topological features and identify networks and subnetworks of interest.

- Develop machine learning models to estimate 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 congresses

- Participation in teaching and dissemination activities.

I. Access requirements:

Required qualification:

* Level of education.

University degree in Biology, Biochemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, Chemistry, Physics, Food Science and Technology or other related subjects and
Hold an official university Master's degree in bioinformatics and computational biology or similar.

II. Evaluation of merits:

I. Additional training to be valued (other degrees, other knowledge):

• Additional training in microbiology, clinical nutrition, nutritional genomics, biomedical engineering, molecular biology or biochemistry will be positively valued.
• Additional training in data science will be a plus.
• The average of undergraduate and Master's degree transcript will be positively valued to obtain competitive contracts for the completion of doctoral thesis.
• Knowledge of English.

II. Professional experience to be valued:

• The completion of extracurricular internships and training stays will be positively valued.
• Completion of final degree and/or master's thesis in the area of bioinformatics and computational biology will be positively valued.
• Professional experience of three months or more will be an asset.
• Participation in hackathons will be an asset.
• Experience with R, Linux, Python, SQL would be an asset.
• Participation in conferences will be an asset.

III. Other merits to be valued:

• Participation in courses related to molecular biology will be positively valued.
• Obtaining grants and awards will be positively valued.
• Participation in national and/or international research projects will be positively valued.
• Participation in training activities will be positively valued.
• Participation in outreach and citizen science activities will be an asset.

IV.Capacities and skills (to be assessed in the interview):

• Competencies: results-oriented, with high proactivity, task management, problem solving, responsible.
• Skills: Organizational skills. Ability to integrate in a multidisciplinary team.
• Ability to work in a team with ability for personal relationships.

The selection of candidates shall be carried out in accordance with the principles of equality, merit, ability and publicity, as well as objectivity, independence and professional rigour, respecting the confidentiality of the personal data of the participants, by means of a merit-based competition.

Once the deadline for the submission of applications has expired, and once the fulfilment of the requirements listed in the second base has been verified, the Selection Committee will proceed to assess the merits included in the curricula vitae related to the post and to select the candidates who best meet the established requirements, and will then open a second selection phase consisting of a personal interview.

The personal interview will consist of a face-to-face or videoconference interview which will focus solely on the merits put forward by the candidates in the competition phase and will be aimed at assessing the candidate's suitability for the post. The interview will last a maximum of 45 minutes.

Scale - selection criteria:
The evaluation process will be carried out according to the following criteria:
I. Additional training to be assessed: 0-30*.
II. Experience to be assessed: 0-30*.
III. Other merits to be assessed: 0-10*.
IV. Interview: 0-30

Type of contract: labor contract for scientific-technical activities (art. 23 bis Science Act) in accordance with current legislation with a probationary period established by law.
Dedication: 37,5 h/week in split working day, from Monday to Friday.
Gross Annual Salary: 20,920 euros.
Duration: undetermined, linked to funding from Aid -Y2020/TCS-6654 (end of grant 2024/12/31).
Incorporation: immediate

Headquarter of the IMDEA Food Insitute, Madrid (SPAIN)