Predoctoral Fellowship

Fundació Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron- Institut de recerca; España; On-site; PHP 1,961,000 - 2,614,000; Full time

Job summary

Fundació Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron- Institut de recerca seeks a bioscientist for a predoctoral MSCA fellowship to study genetic features of respiratory viruses and host omics profiles using next-generation sequencing.

This EU training programme supports international mobility and aims to develop data-driven methods to detect and respond to emerging viral threats in a European, collaborative framework.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in bioinformatics or related field.
• Strong English communication skills.
• Experience with infectious disease research or omics data.

Responsibilities

• Advance genomic sequencing of viruses using NGS.
• Characterize host omics profiles.
• Standardise diagnostic workflows across labs.

Skills

English (C1/C2)

Interdisciplinary work

Team collaboration

Education

Master's degree in bioinformatics

Master's degree in computational biology

Job description

Organisation/Company Fundació Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron- Institut de recerca Department Research Department Research Field Medical sciences Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions PhD Positions Application Deadline 8 Oct 2026 - 00:00 (Europe/Andorra) Country Spain Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 37.5 Offer Starting Date 1 Mar 2027 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - MSCA Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

The Respiratory Viruses Unit is currently seeking a highly motivated bioscientist to study the genetic features of respiratory viruses, and the host and viral "omics" profiles associated with several clinical outcomes by next generation sequencing.

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Predoctoral Fellowships (MSCA) are part of the Horizon Europe programme and support predoctoral researchers in developing an original research and innovation project through international mobility.

DETECTIVE (Data driven Excellence in Training of Epidemiological, Clinical, Technological and Innovative Virus Experts) is an EU-funded MSCA training programme aimed at developing new, data-driven methods to anticipate, detect and respond to emerging viral threats at an earlier stage than before. Coordinated by Prof. Dr. Heli Harvala, Professor of Virology at the University of Turku in Finland, the network brings together 8 academic institutions and 14 associated partners from across Europe.

Within DETECTIVE, researchers will develop innovative methods used to detect emerging pathogens earlier, understand who is most at risk, and translate the complex multi-source data into real-time, evidence-based decisions and clinical applications. The project's overall goal is to establish a unified, end-to-end epidemic-intelligence framework, enhancing Europe’s capacity to respond to threats quickly and in a coordinated manner. This will be achieved by an integrated approach combining virology, evolutionary genomics, epidemiology, diagnostics and AI-based analytical methods.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases represent one of the greatest threats to global health and societal stability in the 21st century. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated with unprecedented clarity how quickly novel pathogens can spread, overwhelm healthcare systems, and disrupt economies.

This doctoral project aims to develop and improve new tools for the rapid detection of viruses and the identification of novel viral and host markers in severe respiratory infections, through the application of omics technologies. The objective will be to contribute to the standardisation of the different diagnostic protocols used among the various laboratories and, at the same time, to discover and validate biomarkers associated with severe respiratory infections.

Main responsibilities and duties:

• To enhance the genomic sequencing by NGS of viruses detected at different settings.
• To characterise host molecular profiles with integrated omics.
• To discover and validate biomarkers related to severe clinical outcomes.
• To standardise sampling and processing workflows between laboratories.
• Hold a master’s degree in bioinformatics, computational biology, genomics, data science, epidemiology, virology or related fields.
• Have a strong interest in infectious disease research and emerging pathogens.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English (minimum C1/C2 CEFR level).
• Demonstrate the ability to work effectively in an interdisciplinary and international research environment.
• Have not resided/carried out work or studies in Spain for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the March 1st, 2027.

Experience and knowledge:

Required:

• Experience with next-generation sequencing, molecular diagnostics and/or transcriptomic, proteomic or metabolomic data analysis highly beneficial.
• Previous laboratory experience in infectious disease research..

Research Field Biological sciences

Additional Information

Selection process