(EMBL-EBI seeking to recruit an enthusiastic Scientific Database Curator to join the InterPro team at the The European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) located on the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus near Cambridge in the UK.
The post-holder will work as part of a small team maintaining and curating the InterPro database. Their responsibilities will include updating existing InterPro entries, integrating new predictive signatures and adding annotation such as concise, literature-referenced abstracts. Data in InterPro needs to be of a consistently high quality and so potential candidates should have a good attention to detail and a thorough attitude to their work. We believe that understanding our users' needs and providing for them is critically important, and so the curator may be required to attend conferences, workshops or training events in order to meet with users, hear their ideas and expectations, and teach them about InterPro.
The EBI, part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), provides cutting-edge research, services and training in the field of bioinformatics and is home to world-class resources such as UniProtKB and InterPro. InterPro generates and houses data predicting the functional classification of protein sequences and the presence of protein domains and sites. This information is widely used by genome sequencing projects and is disseminated to a large, global biological research community through web-based databases and software tools.
Requirements:
The ideal applicant should hold at minimum a BSc. in a Biological Science, preferably with a strong background (e.g. 3 years post-graduate experience) in proteomics, molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology and/or a related field.
Past work must either include work in a laboratory or in a biological database environment. A good understanding of proteomics and protein evolution would be advantageous, as would a high standard of scientific writing, with experience writing specifically for the web. Familiarity with the use of software tools for nucleotide/amino acid sequence analysis would be an advantage. The role is part of a tightly-knit team, so an ability to communicate ideas and openly discuss potential approaches will be very important. However, applicants should also be able to take their own initiative and work autonomously.
The candidate may be required to describe their work to a wider audience, including end-users of the database, so good presentation skills and an ability to write training materials and teach are a necessity; some of their work may also be published in scientific journals.
No computer programming skills are necessary but a proficiency at using Microsoft Office and a willingness to learn how to use new software tools are a must.
Contact Information:
About Our Organization:
EMBL is an inclusive, equal opportunity employer offering attractive conditions and benefits appropriate to an international research organisation.
Please note that appointments on fixed term contracts can be renewed, depending on circumstances at the time of the review.
Note that special visa requirements apply to employees from non EU countries working at EMBL-EBI in the UK. The period of work does not qualify for the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme.
