BeDataDriven B.V. in the Netherlands is looking for a full-time bioinformatics scientist to work on a research project funded by Horizon2020, the Research and Development program of the European Union. The SOUND (Statistical multi-Omics UNDerstanding) project includes ten partners throughout Europe and the United States and will run for 36 months starting September 1st this year.

In simple terms, the goal of SOUND is to create the de-facto standard toolkit used in every clinical research lab for statistically informed analysis of personal multi-omic data.

The use of the R programming language and the packages provided by the Bioconductor project has become widespread in this field. However, as the volume of data and the complexity of the statistical analyzes increases, the limited capacity of the GNU R software to handle big data becomes a bottle neck. BeDataDriven's task in the SOUND project will be to make our own interpreter for the R language, Renjin, compatible with the Bioconductor packages and to build a powerful computational infrastructure that provides clinicians with easy-to-use workflows. We will design data containers that are domain-specific, self-describing, extensible and interoperable and we will create benchmarks to test our software's ability to handle this data efficiently.

Given the goal of the project and BeDataDriven's role in the consortium, the work of the bioinformatics scientist will have a strong relationship with the field of computer science, but the position requires you to work closely with medical researchers, many of whom perform research into the advancement of (personalized) cancer treatments. It will be your task to:

• translate the research of the project partners into computational workflows with supporting data formats and benchmarks,
• assist the Renjin development team to optimize the R interpreter for this purpose,
• keep in close contact with the project coordinator to ensure that expectations are met and the deliverables are on time.

Requirements

To be our ideal candidate we require that:

• you have at least an M.Sc. degree in bioinformatics, computational biology, life science and technology or a similar topic
• you have advanced knowledge of the R programming language and experience with using Bioconductor packages
• you have an interest in using 'omics for personalized medical treatments of, for example, various types of cancer
• you have experience with academic research and writing scientific publications
• you are comfortable with communicating in the English language
• you are willing to travel to our partners and to conferences abroad
• You get additional credits if you have Java programming experience.

What's in it for you?

The position is full-time (40 hours per week), initially for 12 months with the option to extend, and is based in The Hague. We offer you a competitive salary, a startup environment with the obligatory ping-pong facilities, the freedom to do some of your work remotely, and the opportunity to work on a practical solution to put medical advances in the use of 'omics for personalized treatment of patients in the hands of clinicians.

About BeDataDriven

We are a small and fast-growing software development and data consulting company based in The Hague, the Netherlands. We build serious tools to help organizations turn data into information, and information into results. Our clients include humanitarian relief organizations and big corporations in telecommunications, insurance and engineering. We value respect and diversity in our company and believe every employee should enjoy what they are doing.

How to apply

Send your CV and a motivation letter before July 1st, 2015, to jobs AT bedatadriven.com and our managing director, Maarten-Jan Kallen, will get back to you. We do not consider applications without a motivation letter.

You can find this announcement on our website at http://www.bedatadriven.com/jobs/2015-04-bioinformatics-scientist.html