Postdoctoral Research Associate

Queen Mary University of London; London; On-site; GBP 37,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

An exciting opportunity awaits in a pioneering lab focused on cancer evolution, where you will lead research on genetic drivers of cancer using advanced computational methods. Join a collaborative team at the forefront of genomic research, contributing to groundbreaking discoveries that enhance our understanding of cancer biology. This role promises a dynamic environment, access to cutting-edge resources, and a chance to make a significant impact in the field. If you are passionate about computational biology and eager to tackle complex challenges, this position offers the perfect platform to advance your career.

Benefits

Generous Pension Scheme

30 Days Leave

Flexible Working Arrangements

Professional Development Opportunities

Season Ticket Loan Scheme

Qualifications

• PhD in biological or computational sciences or equivalent required.
• Experience in genomic and transcriptomic data analysis is essential.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with wet lab scientists to analyze mutational data.
• Update and expand the repository of cancer genes.

Skills

Computational Coding

Genomic Data Analysis

Statistical Analysis

Education

PhD in Biological Sciences

PhD in Computational Sciences

Job description

About the Role

Applications are sought for an exciting opportunity within the Ciccarelli lab, within the Centre for Cancer Evolution, Barts Cancer Institute.

We are seeking an independent, highly motivated computational Postdoctoral Research Assistant to lead on an established and successful research line aimed at understanding the genetic events that drive cancer evolution. We have a long-lasting interest to identify cancer drivers from genomic data using machine learning (Mourikis Nature Comms 2019, Nulsen Genome Medicine 2021), study their interplay the immune microenvironment (Misetic Genome Medicine 2023) and dissect their context -dependent role during cancer evolution (Ganguli, Nature Cancer, 2025). We also maintain a highly accessed resource of cancer genes (http://network-cancer-genes.org/)

The post holder will have two main responsibilities. From one side, they will collaborate closely with wet lab scientists in our team and analyse mutational and transcriptomic data coming from experiments aimed to understand why particular mutations help or hamper tumour formation. From the other, they will be responsible to update and enlarge our repository of cancer genes.

The Ciccarelli lab is highly collaborative and interdisciplinary and the ability to work in a team is essential.

About You

The successful candidate will be expected to have a PhD degree in biological or computational sciences or equivalent, with solid knowledge of computational coding applied to genomics. Significant research laboratory experience in genomic and transcriptomic computational data analysis is essential, as well as experience in statistics and coding.

About the School/Department/Institute/Project

Our group is based in the Centre for Cancer Evolution at the Barts Cancer Institute and are affiliated with the Francis Crick Institute, a pioneering biomedical research institute in London where our wet lab is located. We are also part of Cancer Research UK City of London Centre, which sponsor our high-performance computer cluster facility.

About Queen Mary

At Queen Mary University of London, we believe that a diversity of ideas helps us achieve the previously unthinkable.

Throughout our history, we’ve fostered social justice and improved lives through academic excellence. And we continue to live and breathe this spirit today, not because it’s simply ‘the right thing to do’ but for what it helps us achieve and the intellectual brilliance it delivers.

We continue to embrace diversity of thought and opinion in everything we do, in the belief that when views collide, disciplines interact, and perspectives intersect, truly original thought takes form.

Benefits

We offer competitive salaries, access to a generous pension scheme, 30 days’ leave per annum (pro-rata for part-time/fixed-term), a season ticket loan scheme and access to a comprehensive range of personal and professional development opportunities. In addition, we offer a range of work life balance and family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, and campus facilities. There is also possibility of a market supplement depending on the expertise of the candidate. This will be assessed during negotiation.

Queen Mary’s commitment to our diverse and inclusive community is embedded in our appointments processes. Reasonable adjustments will be made at each stage of the recruitment process for any candidate with a disability. We are open to considering applications from candidates wishing to work flexibly.

*PhD candidates who have not yet received their PhD, will be appointed with a salary of £37,889 until they can provide copy of the formal award, at which point, salary will increase to £41,510.

£37,889 to £49,723 per annum