Associate Professor position in Computational Biology/Bioinformatics

Official announcement : download the pdf file

For more information, select one of the links below :
General conditions
Application procedure
Academic environment
Financial support
Contacts

General conditions

Candidates must have a record of successful independent research and experience in the field of Computational Biology or Bioinformatics. She/he is expected to develop a vigorous, internationally recognized research programme that is supported by significant external funding. The exact research topic is open and does not necessarily have to be closely related to those already implemented in the Departments of Biology, Medicine or Informatics.

Besides her/his own research, the candidate should provide support in Computational Biology or Bioinformatics to other research groups at the University of Fribourg (Bioinformatics Service). Therefore she/he is expected to collaborate with other groups. Furthermore, she/he is expected to interact and collaborate in a Bioinformatics network established between the Universities of Fribourg and Berne and the Computing centre "Vital-IT" in Lausanne.

The future appointee is expected to participate actively in teaching at all levels to undergraduate and graduate students in Biology, Biochemistry, Medicine and Informatics. In particular, the candidate should participate in a new Master programme in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology that will be jointly established with the University of Berne. The candidate should be able to teach in English as well as in one or both of the two official languages of the University, French or German.

Women are encouraged to apply.

Application procedure

Hard copies of the following documents should be forwarded to the mailing address below:

Prof. Rolf Ingold
Dean of the Faculty of Sciences
University of Fribourg
Chemin du Musée 8
CH-1700 FRIBOURG
Switzerland

Please send also an electronic version of the application to the Dean's office to sylvain.debrot@unifr.ch.

Academic environment

Teaching, languages
Administrative structure
Research focus
Infrastructure

Teaching, languages

Teaching

The Faculty offers various Bachelor and Master programmes in the domain of Life Science. This includes BSc in Biology, in Biochemistry, in Biomedical Science, in Pharmaceutical Sciences, BMed in Human Medicine and in Dental Medicine and MSc programmes in Biology (options Neuro- and Developmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution, and Plant-Microbe Interactions), in Biochemistry, and, jointly with the University of Berne, in Biomedical Science. Further BSc and MSc programmes are offered in several other domains including Computer Science and Mathematics (see also http://www.unifr.ch/science). A new Master programme in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics is planned jointly with the University of Berne is planned and the candidate is expected to participate in this programme.

Languages

The University of Fribourg is bilingual and teaching at the Bachelor level is exclusively in French or/and German. Students can choose to take their exams in either language. At the Master and PhD levels, the classes are generally taught in English.

Therefore, candidates must be able to teach in English plus French and/or German from the outset and to have colloquial skills in all three languages or be willing to acquire such skills within a few years.

Administrative structures

The Departments of Biology, Medicine, Informatics and Mathematics are part of the Faculty of Science, and are located on the Pérolles campus. Each of them is led by a president who is elected for 2 years amongst the professors of the Department. Major decisions are taken by the Department council, which comprises the teaching staff and student representatives. Units are led according to the same principle.

Research focus

Life Science at the Faculty of Science comprises about 35 different research groups, which cover a wide range of subjects, including Molecular and Cellular Biology, Developmental Biology, Neurobiology, Ecology and Evolution, Plant Biology and Physiology. In addition, there are research groups in other Departments carrying out research programmes of strong biological and biomedical relevance, which are open to interdisciplinary collaborations (e.g. bionanomaterials, biostatistics and computational biology).

The candidate is expected to carry out research in one or more of the following fields:

• Genomics and transcriptomics
• Proteomics
• Metabolomics, Lipidomics
• Pattern recognition, image analysis and tracking
• Neuroinformatics

but other appropriate fields will also be considered.

Infrastructure

The position is in the Faculty of Science. Depending on her/his research orientation the candidate will be affiliated one of the following Department: Biology, Medicine, Informatics or Mathematics. Furthermore, based on an agreement between the Universities of Fribourg and Berne and the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), the candidate will have full access to the infrastructures of the Vital-IT platform in Lausanne, the "Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Facility" (BBCF) at the EPFL and to the "Bioinformatics Core Facility" (BCF). The collaboration with these facilities includes access to computers, programmes and support staff.

Financial support

The new professor will have a share of the department's operating budget, which will be calculated according to standard procedures in use in the Faculty of Science and in her/his Department. However, the appointee is expected to actively seek additional external funding.

In addition, the new professor will receive a reasonable start-up grant, which is subject of negotiations, and grants for the acquisition of books and computers.

The successful candidate will have positions for 1 senor assistant (maître-assistant / Oberassistant) and 1 graduate assistant (PhD student). The senior assistant will primarily provide support in Bioinformatics and/or Computational Biology to other research groups at the University of Fribourg, but may also conduct research and participate in teaching.

Contacts

For further information, please contact


Prof. Christian Mazza, Dept. of Mathematics (christian.mazza@unifr.ch; Tel +41 26 300 9181)

or

Prof. Fritz Müller, Dept. of Biology (fritz.mueller@unifr.ch; Tel +41 26 300 8896).


See also the website of the Department of Mathematics and the Department of biology