Scientific programmer (Research Technician), Model-based Evolutionary Genomics Unit

The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST; see www.oist.jp) is a dynamic new graduate university of science and technology in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The university is located on 85 hectares of protected forestland overlooking beautiful shoreline and coral reefs. The campus is striking architecturally, and the facilities are outstanding (OIST campus video tour). There are no academic departments, which facilitates multidisciplinary research. Outstanding resources and equipment are provided and managed to encourage easy access and collaboration. English is the official language of the University, and the university research community is fully international, with more than 50 countries represented. OIST is rapidly gaining recognition in the worldwide academic community as a model for excellence in education and research.

Position Summary:

Join the Model-Based Evolutionary Genomics Unit as a scientific programmer making fundamental contributions to research at the intersection of computational and evolutionary biology. Our unit works to decode the complex patterns and processes that underpin the evolution of life across its myriad forms with a significant focus on reconstructing the Tree of Life and modeling the dependency between different levels of organization in biological systems. By employing probabilistic models and leveraging the power of machine learning, we aim to unravel the co-evolutionary dynamics that have shaped the Tree of Life, from the enigmatic origins of early life forms to the sophisticated structures of modern biological systems.

As a scientific programmer, you have the opportunity to further develop phylogenetic software in C++ (e.g., ALE, ALErax, GeneRax) as well as other languages (e.g., MCMCdate in Haskell) in collaboration with researcher groups in both the Life Sciences and Computer Science, including the Stamatakis group at HITS. You will also have the opportunity to participate in projects that aim to adapt machine learning methods, including protein language models such as ESM, to genomic data work. As a Scientific programmer at OIST, you will work with the extensive HPC resources of the university and interact with the excellent Scientific Computing & Data Analysis team.   

The position offers a platform for innovation and discovery in a unit that thrives on intellectual curiosity and interdisciplinary collaboration and includes funding, provided by the budget of the Model-based Evolutionary Genomics Unit, to travel to international conferences as well as extended research visits to international collaborators, including Tom Williams at the University of Bristol, Anja Spang at NIOZ in the Netherlands, Phil Hugenholtz at the University of Queensland, and others.