Full-Time Postdoctoral Research Associate / Fellow in bioinformatics
Job Description
Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy
This new full-time post is available at either Postdoctoral Research Associate or Fellow level, from 2nd February 2026 for 3 years on a fixed-term basis within the Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy.
The post
The Faculty wishes to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) or Postdoctoral Research Fellow (PDRF) to support the work of Dr Alex Hayward and Professor Chris Bass. This BBSRC funded post is available from 2nd February 2026, or as soon as possible after this date, for 3 years.
The postholder will be responsible for bioinformatic analyses and the drafting of resulting manuscripts, to investigate links between transposons (mobile genetic elements) and the evolution of insecticide resistance, on the exciting new BBSRC funded project:
‘Are transposons important facilitators of resistance evolution in the major agricultural pest fall armyworm?’
For this, the postholder will investigate the contribution of transposons to resistance evolution in genome sequences of the fall armyworm moth. This will involve research to tease apart the potential role of transposons in host evolution, using methods in transposon detection, annotation and analysis, focussing on available and new high-quality genome sequences, and those arising from a selection experiment performed in collaboration with pharmaceutical company, Bayer AG. The postholder will collaborate closely with staff at Bayer’s Monheim Campus, Germany, and undertake a visit to receive training in selection experiment methods and gain experience of industry.
We also welcome applications from candidates interested in working part-time hours or job-sharing arrangements, and offer flexible working arrangements.