University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

There is an open PhD position in bioinformatics, comparative genomics and evolution of noncoding RNAs at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

The Bioinformatics and Molecular Evolution team at the School of Biological Sciences (http://www.biol.canterbury.ac.nz/) is a new and dynamic group with a broad range of interests including, bioinformatic characterisation of novel RNA families and RNA pseudogenes, genome annotation and comparative genomics of ncRNAs, RNA evolution, and the analysis of gene expression data.

The University of Canterbury provides a strong interdisciplinary research environment in computational and molecular biology. The successful candidate will be associated with the Biomolecular Interaction Centre (http://www.bic.canterbury.ac.nz/) and the BlueFern supercomputing facility (http://www.bluefern.canterbury.ac.nz/), and we also interact closely with the Biomathematics Research Centre (http://www.math.canterbury.ac.nz/bio/).

Required background:

An honours or masters degree in a biological or mathematical discipline such as biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology or evolution, maths, statistics, physics, computer science or equivalent and a demonstrated interest in using computational tools to test biological hypotheses.

Funding:

The PhD is jointly funded by the Biomolecular Interaction Centre and BlueFern up to NZ$30,000 (inclusive of fees) per annum for 3 years, depending on the candidate.

International PhD students pay tuition fees at the New Zealand domestic rate, provided that the students reside in New Zealand and study under a New Zealand student visa. Information for international students can be found at: http://www.canterbury.ac.nz/international/

Application procedure:

Please email a CV, cover letter and the names of at least two referees to:

Dr. Anthony Poole (anthony.poole@canterbury.ac.nz) and Dr. Paul Gardner (paul.gardner@canterbury.ac.nz)

Closing date for applications: 30 March, 2012.