AI for Microbiome Engineering Post-Doctoral Fellow

Job Type
Post-Doc
Job Rank
Post-Doc
Job Institution
University of Toronto
Job Description

AI for Microbiome Engineering Post-Doctoral Fellow
Faculty / Division: Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering
Department: Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry (BioZone)
Campus: St. George (Downtown Toronto)

Description:
The Centre for Applied Biosciences and Bioengineering (BioZone) at the University of Toronto invites applications for a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the area of artificial intelligence and microbiome engineering. This position is part of a collaborative research project funded through the Acceleration Consortium to develop a self-driving lab (SDL) for accelerating the design and assembly of synthetic microbial communities for sustainable chemicals manufacturing. The position will be jointly supervised by Prof. Christopher Lawson and Prof. ‪Mohamad Moosavi. Interested candidates should send their CV with at least two references to Prof. Christopher Lawson (chris[dot]lawson[at]utoronto.ca).‬‬‬

Qualifications:
The position requires a PhD in Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, or a related field with 2-3 years of experience in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, and/or Data Science. The initial appointment term is for a year with the possibility of longer term extension. University of Toronto is a highly competitive employer and compensation will be commensurate with experience of the candidate.

Preference given to candidates with experience with:
 Strong background in coding in Python
 Strong background in Data Science, Bioinformatics, and/or Computational Biology
 Knowledge of microbial fermentation, microbial metabolism, and genomics
 Experience with machine learning and big data analytics is an asset
 Experience working with microbial isolate cultures is an asset
 Experience with automation and high-throughput experiments is an asset

Duties:
• Responsible for developing self-driving labs for microbiome engineering
• Responsible for developing automated high-throughput workflows driven by machine learning to assemble and phenotypically characterize synthetic microbial consortia
• Conceive hypothesis, design experimental plans and conduct experiments and analyze and interpret data
• Review scientific literature, execute research projects and report on their progress through oral and written reports and scientific journal articles
• Communicate effectively orally and in writing
• Present research at local, national and international meetings
• Interface with industry partners and vendors effectively
• Maintain strain and plasmid databases as appropriate
• Coordinate research projects and meetings as appropriate
• Responsible for calibration and routine maintenance of specific equipment and training other researchers and provide technical support for these equipment
• Responsible for developing new techniques and methods and training other researchers in these techniques
• Assist the PI in preparing manuscripts and proposals.
• Perform other additional duties to enable the safe and efficient operation of the lab

Notes:
This is a 12-month term position with the possibility of renewal.

Closing date: 12/31/2023, 11:59PM ET
Employee Group: Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Limited Term
Appointment Type: Grant - Term
Schedule: Full-Time
Pay Scale Group and Hiring Rate: (Limited Term): $51,543 - $96,643
Job Category: Research Administration & Teaching