Temporary Bioinformatician (3-month) in ancient metagenomics

The Swedish Museum of Natural History is a government agency with a mandate to promote knowledge, research and interest in our world. It is a prominent research institution and Sweden's largest museum. For more than 200 years, the museum has been collecting specimens and data and conducting research on life on earth. The collections contain more than 11 million plants, animals, fungi, environmental samples, minerals and fossils. All research and knowledge are shared in the exhibitions, Cosmonova and in activities at the museum and digitally.

The Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics at the Swedish Museum of Natural History is seeking a temporary Bioinformatician for a 3-month position focused on the analysis of ancient sediment DNA.

1 job(s).

WORK TASKS

The Bioinformatician will be supervised by Dr. Tom van der Valk and based at the Centre for Palaeogenomics in Stockholm, a collaborative research institute jointly operated by the Swedish Museum of Natural History and Stockholm University.

The project will mainlyinvolve:

• Constructing pangenome graphs to facilitate the alignment of ancient sequencing data.

• Identifying phylogenomic relationships among plant metagenomic data obtained from ancient DNA samples across the arctic.

QUALIFICATIONS

Candidates must meet the following requirements:

• A masters degree in biology, computational biology or a related field.

• Documented expertise in a relevant research area.

• Excellent written and spoken English.

Preferred Qualifications (Merits)

In addition to the required qualifications, experience in the following areas will be considered advantageous:

• PhD degree in biology, computational biology or a related field

• Knowledge of ancient sediment DNA and metagenomics with hands-on experience in genomic data analysis.

• Experience in analyzing large genomic datasets.

• Proficiency in bioinformatics, bash command-line scripting and Python

• Experience working with high-performance computing (HPC) clusters.

• Personal Competencies

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively.

• A proactive and structured approach to research.

We are looking for a person with strong analytical and problem-solving skills. You need to have the ability to work both independently and collaboratively and have a proactive and structured approach to research.

Form of employment: Temporary employment.

Duration: 11 days - 3 months, commencement: 2026-11-04 According to agreement.

Please submit the following documents with your application:

• A cover letter (maximum 1 page) including:

- A statement of interest.

- A brief summary of your scientific background and research interests.

- A personal reflection on how your qualifications align with this position.

• A curriculum vitae (CV) summarizing your education, research experience, and relevant positions.

• A list of publications and academic work you wish to be considered by the evaluation committee.

We advance our knowledge of the natural world, inspiring to better care of our planet. Our ambition is that the employees of The Swedish Museum of Natural History shall represent the diversity in Sweden and we welcome every applicant.

We apply an individual, differentiated and objective salary-setting system in accordance with the collective agreements RALS and RALST-T.

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