Postdoctoral Fellow in Computational biology

Your group

The Zimmermann-Kogadeeva lab at EMBL Heidelberg is looking for a postdoctoral fellow to conduct research within the NEURON ERA-NET consortium. NEURON ERA-NET is a Network of European Funding for Neuroscience Research (https://www.neuron-eranet.eu/). The overarching goal of the project is to investigate the microbiota-gut-brain crosstalk in anxiety disorders at the molecular level, disentangling interactions between the gut bacteria, metabolites and the host phenotypes. Ultimately, by dissecting the molecular, neural, and microbial pathways involved in stress-induced anxiety, this project aims to develop preventative and therapeutic strategies to prevent susceptibility and enhance resilience and mental health.

Your role

You will conduct an independent project and collaborate with other researchers in the lab and within the consortium to investigate metabolic interactions between the gut microbiota and the host relevant for anxiety and depression phenotypes. Specifically, you will develop multi-omics integration approaches to analyse metagenomic sequencing, metabolomics and RNAseq datasets from mouse experiments performed by the consortium partners, and from publicly available relevant human microbiome-metabolome datasets. The envisioned methods include network-based integration, metabolic modelling, physiology-based kinetic modelling, statistical approaches and machine learning. These methods will help to integrate electrophysiological, transcriptomic, metagenomic, and metabolomic datasets to unravel the temporal activation of brain-gut and gut-brain circuits conferring susceptibility or resilience to anxiety. Machine learning will be used to develop predictive models of anxiety risk, validated in mouse and human studies, aiming to translate findings into clinical applications.

You have

• A Ph.D. degree in bioinformatics, computational biology, biostatistics, or related subjects
• Experience with high-throughput sequencing, metagenomics or metabolomics analyses of large-scale datasets
• Experience in data analysis, statistics and visualization, e.g. in Python or R
• An interest in a collaborative project within a large scientific consortium
• Ability to work independently and in a team, and at the interface between life sciences and informatics
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, a high level of motivation and fluency in English

You may also have

• Working experience in microbiome research field
• Working experience in neuroscience field
• Experience with physiology-based (pharmaco)kinetic modelling
• Experience with genome-scale metabolic modelling
• Experience in machine learning and predictive modelling

Contract length: 3 years

Professional development support

The EMBL Fellows' Career Service provides support and guidance to predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows across all six EMBL's sites.

Working with a dedicated Careers Advisor, this invaluable service will help you to take informed decisions about your career planning both in the short and longer term. Whether your main interest is pursuing a career path in academia, exploring opportunities in industry or exploring an independent venture, the EMBL Fellows' Career Service will provide you with a portfolio of activities and resources to help you.

To find out more please visit - EMBL-fellows-career-service

Why join us

Join a culture of innovation
We are located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, alongside other prominent research and biotech organisations, and surrounded by beautiful Cambridgeshire countryside. This is a highly collaborative and inclusive community where our employees enjoy a relaxed atmosphere. We are committed to ensuring our employees feel valued, supported and empowered to reach their professional potential.

Enjoy lots of employee benefits:

• Financial incentives: Monthly family and child allowances, generous stipend reviewed yearly, pension scheme, death benefit and unemployment insurances
• Flexible working arrangements including hybrid working patterns
• Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family
• Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year in addition to public holidays
• Campus life: Free shuttle bus to and from work (Heidelberg), on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely)
• Family benefits: Kindergarten (Heidelberg), 10 days of child sick leave, paid maternity & parental leave, holiday clubs on campus and monthly family and child allowances

What else you need to know

• International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Read more on our page for international applicants.
• Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL, we strongly believe that inclusive and diverse teams benefit from higher levels of innovation and creative thought. We encourage applications from women, LGBTQ+ & individuals from all nationalities.
• Job location: All our fellowships are based on-site (for at least part of each week). If you are living overseas, you will receive a generous relocation package to support you.
• EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we apply DORA principles to our recruitment and performance assessment processes here
• How to apply: To apply please submit a cover letter and a CV through our online system. We aim to provide a response within two weeks after the closing date.

Closing Date
15/04/2025