Research Assistant/Associate in machine learning applied to multi-source immunological datasets

The Role

We look to recruit an enthusiastic researcher to join the Immunotherapy Research Group, as we deliver world-class translational research in immune-mediated rheumatic diseases. Your role will be to develop new analytical pipelines for the analysis of high-dimensional multi-source datasets to gain insights into the underlying immunobiology of flare and drug-free remission in rheumatoid arthritis. You will already have extensive knowledge and experience of working with immunological datasets including flow cytometry, autoantibodies, circulating proteomic markers and gene expression data. You will also have extensive experience of machine learning techniques, and of leading the development of novel software pipelines for the analysis of flow cytometry data within the setting of experimental rheumatology clinical research studies.

This post will form part of ongoing translational research within the Immunotherapy Research Group to better understand the immunobiology of disease flare and drug-free remission in patients living with rheumatoid arthritis. You will have access to datasets from our previous and ongoing clinical research studies, as well as access to our high-performance computing clusters.

This post is fixed term for a period of 3 years. 

For informal enquiries contact: Dr Kenneth Baker

To apply, please attach your CV and a cover letter that demonstrates how you meet the essential criteria for the position, as outlined in the Person Specification of the Job Description.

Find out more about the Faculty of Medical Sciences here:

Find out more about our Research Institutes here: 

As part of our commitment to career development for research colleagues, the University has developed 3 levels of research role profiles. These profiles set out firstly the generic competences and responsibilities expected of role holders at each level and secondly the general qualifications and experiences needed for entry at a particular level.

Key Accountabilities

Although working under the general guidance of an academic or Principal Investigator, the postholder will contribute ideas, including enhancements to the technical or methodological aspects of their studies, thus providing substantial 'added value'

Develop and carry out the specified project using appropriate techniques and equipment as outlined in the personal requirements
Determine appropriate methodologies for research, with advice and support where required
Contribute to grant applications submitted by others and in time develop own research objectives and proposals for funding
Begin to write, with appropriate support, proposals for individual research funding or, where funders do not permit this, contribute to the writing of collective bids
Assess research findings for the need/scope for further investigations
Contribute to the writing up of their research for publication and dissemination, either through seminar and conference presentations or through publications
Present research findings, either at conferences or through publications in reputable outlets appropriate to the discipline
May be involved in the supervision, with guidance, of final year undergraduate research projects and in providing support to postgraduate research students or Research Assistants
Will need to work with the support staff and, on occasions, with undergraduate and postgraduate students, and interact intellectually with other academic members of the Institute.
May contribute to events celebrating the public engagement of science/social sciences/humanities
Develop an awareness of University structures, policies and procedures and relevant issues in the higher education, research, social and political environment

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

Essential

Ability to work well as part of a team and rapidly acquire new skills

Detailed subject knowledge in the area of research
Likelihood of advanced skills directly related to the research projects
High level of analytical and problem-solving capability
Ability to communicate complex information with clarity and to encourage the commitment of others
Experience of research with clear transferable skills and some experience or awareness of the research environment
Presentations at conferences and/or high-quality publications
Advanced knowledge of Python programming language and experience with libraries for data analysis and visualisation, such as NumPy, SciPy, Pandas, matplotlib and seaborn
Experience in development of novel techniques for the analysis of high dimensional clinical, flow cytometry, autoantibody, proteomic and transcriptomic data
Knowledge of machine learning, especially the experiment design and evaluation, and practical knowledge of libraries such as scikit-learn and shap
Practical skills in training machine learning models on multi-source human immunological datasets
Experience in setting up computational pipelines in HPC environment
Knowledge of R programming language and practical experience with statistical analysis and ggplot

Desirable

Knowledge and experience of statistical approaches to immunological data analysis

Practical experience with GNU/Linux operating system, Bash scripting and Python package management
Knowledge of the underlying immunobiology of rheumatoid arthritis

Attributes and Behaviour

Essential

Ability to work independently and as part of a team

Capacity for original thought
Ability to communicate effectively to scientific audiences

Desirable

Curious to better understand the workings of the human immune system

Interest in rheumatic disease

Qualifications

Essential

Honours degree (or equivalent) with some subject knowledge in the relevant area (Research Assistant)

A PhD in machine learning applied to immunology (Research Associate)

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 28347