USDA-ARS Postdoctoral Fellowship in Genome Bioinformatics

*Applications are reviewed on a rolling-basis.

ARS Office/Lab and Location: Two research opportunities are currently available with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), located in Ames, Iowa.

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency with a mission to find solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day from field to table. ARS will deliver cutting-edge, scientific tools and innovative solutions for American farmers, producers, industry, and communities to support the nourishment and well-being of all people; sustain our nation’s agroecosystems and natural resources; and ensure the economic competitiveness and excellence of our agriculture. The vision of the agency is to provide global leadership in agricultural discoveries through scientific excellence.

Research Project: This project involves investigation of repetitive elements in plant genomes, with a particular focus on centromeric arrays, as structural elements that are essential for cell division (both mitotic and meiotic). The project involves characterizing centromeric repeat locations and tracking changes in those repeats spatially within chromosomes and between species at a range of evolutionary distances from one another.

Learning Objectives: In this appointment, the participant will have opportunity to learn the following:

• Methods for structuring and storing genetic and genomic data sets, and for assessing them in terms of content and format;
• Methods for genomic analysis, including for genomic sequence comparison, repetitive-element identification, visualization, and evolutionary analysis;
• Methods for performing computational biology investigations in a Unix high-performance computing environment;
• Methods for documenting computational work using tools such as GitHub and Jupyter Notebooks; and
• Suitable practices for documenting project methods and findings in a scientific manuscript.

Mentor(s): The mentor for this opportunity is Steven Cannon (steven.cannon@usda.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentor(s).

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: October 2024. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for four months, but may be renewed upon recommendation of ARS and is contingent on the availability of funds.

Level of Participation: The appointment is full time.

Participant Stipend: The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience.

Citizenship Requirements: This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens only.

ORISE Information: This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and ARS. Participants do not become employees of USDA, ARS, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Health insurance can be obtained through ORISE.

Questions: Please visit our Program Website. After reading, if you have additional questions about the application process, please email  ORISE.ARS.Midwest@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.

Qualifications

The qualified candidate should have received a doctoral degree in one of the relevant fields. Degree must have been received within the past five years.

Preferred skills:

• Knowledge of basic methods in genomic sequence analysis and plant genetics.
• This opportunity will mostly be conducted in a Unix environment and on high-performance computing equipment.
• Knowledge and experience helpful for this research experience include: Unix scripting, knowledge of a scripting language such as Python, Perl, awk, or R, knowledge of computational methods for aligning genic sequence and calculating phylogenetic trees, and knowledge of statistical methods for use in interpreting sequence homology results.
• Botanical knowledge would be helpful (e.g. knowledge of major taxonomic groupings in the angiosperms).

Eligibility Requirements

• Citizenship: U.S. Citizen Only
• Degree: Doctoral Degree received within the last 60 month(s).