Postdoc positions in phylogenetics and molecular epidemiology
Olivier Gascuel Evolutionary Bioinformatics Lab
Institut Pasteur, Paris, France

The huge amount of molecular data available nowadays can help addressing new and essential questions in evolution. However, reconstructing evolution requires models, algorithms, and statistical and computational methods of ever increasing complexity. Our Evolutionary Bioinformatics Lab aims at developing new methods and algorithms that are able to tackle efficiently the ever increasing amount of sequence data, in the fields of phylogenetics and molecular epidemiology. Most of our phylogenetic methods and software apply to a broad spectrum of questions, species and sequence, from mammals to viruses, DNA to proteins, and genes to complete genomes. This results in a strong impact of some of our papers (e.g. PhyML, Syst Biol 2003 & 2010, ~20,000 citations). We recently published a new version of the phylogenetic bootstrap (Nature 2018). Our second aim is to apply these tools (and others) to pathogens, mostly viruses, and especially HIV. The goals are multiple: understand their evolution (e.g. the emergence and transmission of drug resistance mutations, AIDS 2015 & 2016), decipher their genome (e.g. to confirm the existence of the 10th gene of HIV, PNAS 2016), and design surveillance tools to control outbreaks. Most of the current methods to tackle these questions are based on Bayesian approaches, which are computationally heavy and not able to process the large datasets available nowadays. Developing methods that scale with the “deluge” of data is a real challenge, in terms of algorithmics but also modeling. Our LSD software using quadratic programming for dating molecular phylogenies, is a good example of such an approach. LSD is not only very fast but also fairly accurate (Syst Biol 2015).

In this context we search for skilled postdocs (18 months renewable contracts), with strong background in phylogenetics, algorithmics, statistical modeling and learning, and/or molecular epidemiology. Their research projects will be discussed during application, to fit the applicant ability and vision, and the global strategy of the Lab. To apply send a unique pdf document containing: a short CV (1 page); a motivation letter (1 page); your publication list; three references with contact details, to support your application.

Deadline: Dec. 1, 2018.
Email address: olivier dot gascuel at pasteur dot fr

To know more about us:
https://research.pasteur.fr/en/team/evolutionary-bioinformatics/
https://research.pasteur.fr/en/member/olivier-gascuel/
http://www.lirmm.fr/mceb2018/
https://c3bi.pasteur.fr/