PhD Position - Exploring the Human Microbiome and Human DNA/RNA Markers for Forensic (and Clinical) Research

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Your Responsibilities

As a PhD candidate, you will focus on microbiome-based analyses, with an emphasis on forensic applications, while also exploring potential translations to clinical and anthropological contexts. Forensic applications include body fluid and tissue analysis, individual identification, and geo-location. You will have the opportunity to integrate complementary human mRNA and DNA methylation markers. Additionally, your research will contribute to understanding microbial signatures related to health and human evolution through collaborations with other departments.

The project includes:

• Sequence data generation from human body sites in the laboratory, primarily 16S rRNA gene (ASV) and shotgun metagenomics, along with necessary human RNA/DNA methods (DNA/RNA extraction, PCR, next-generation sequencing, contamination control).
• Reproducible analytics: building pipelines in R/Python, employing robust statistics and machine-learning classifiers.
• Results dissemination through manuscripts, internal reports, and conference presentations.
• Collaboration & training in coordination with clinical and forensic partners.

Your Profile

We seek a highly motivated candidate with the following qualifications and qualities:

• Master's degree (or equivalent) in molecular biology, population genetics, microbiology, computational biology, biostatistics, or a related field.
• Experience with next-generation sequence data analyses is preferred, along with strong skills in R and/or Python and statistics.
• Proficient scientific writing and communication skills in English; good knowledge of German or a willingness to learn and speak German is preferred.

Apply online using the form below. Please note that only applications matching the job profile will be considered.

Contact Information

For inquiries, please contact:
Alex Marquez
Personalverantwortliche
jobs@irm.uzh.ch