Job Postings

Faculty / Division:  Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering

Department:  Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry (BioZone)

Campus:  St. George (Downtown Toronto)

 

Description:

The Centre for Applied Biosciences and Bioengineering (BioZone) at the University of Toronto invites applications for a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the area of artificial intelligence and microbiome engineering. This position is part of a collaborative research project funded through the Acceleration Consortium to develop a self-driving lab (SDL) for accelerating the design and assembly of synthetic microbial communities for sustainable chemicals manufacturing. The position will be jointly supervised by Prof. Christopher Lawson and Prof. ‪Mohamad Moosavi. Interested candidates should send their CV with at least two references to Prof. Christopher Lawson (chris.lawson@utoronto.ca).

Qualifications:

The position requires a PhD in Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, or a related field with 2-3 years of experience in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, and/or Data Science. The initial appointment term is for a year with the possibility of extension. University of Toronto is a highly competitive employer and compensation will be commensurate with experience of the candidate.

Preference given to candidates with experience with:

• Strong background in coding in Python
• Strong background in Data Science, Bioinformatics, and/or Computational Biology
• Knowledge of microbial fermentation, microbial metabolism, and genomics
• Experience with machine learning and big data analytics is an asset
• Experience working with microbial isolate cultures is an asset
• Experience with automation and high-throughput experiments is an asset

Duties:

• Responsible for developing self-driving labs for microbiome engineering
• Responsible for developing automated high-throughput workflows driven by machine learning to assemble and phenotypically characterize synthetic microbial consortia
• Conceive hypothesis, design experimental plans and conduct experiments and analyze and interpret data
• Review scientific literature, execute research projects and report on their progress through oral and written reports and scientific journal articles
• Communicate effectively orally and in writing
• Present research at local, national and international meetings
• Interface with industry partners and vendors effectively
• Maintain strain and plasmid databases as appropriate
• Coordinate research projects and meetings as appropriate
• Responsible for calibration and routine maintenance of specific equipment and training other researchers and provide technical support for these equipment
• Responsible for developing new techniques and methods and training other researchers in these techniques
• Assist the PI in preparing manuscripts and proposals.
• Perform other additional duties to enable the safe and efficient operation of the lab

Notes:

This is a 12-month term position with the possibility of renewal.

Employment as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto is covered by the terms of the CUPE 3902 Unit 5 Collective Agreement.

The normal hours of work are 40 hours per week for a full-time postdoctoral fellow (pro-rated for those holding a partial appointment) recognizing that the needs of the employee’s research and training and the needs of the supervisor’s research program may require flexibility in the performance of the employee’s duties and hours of work.

Closing date: 12/31/2023, 11:59PM ET

Employee Group: Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Limited Term

Appointment Type: Grant – Term

Schedule: Full-Time

Start Date: January 10, 2024

Pay Scale Group and Hiring Rate: $51,543 – $96,643

Job Category: Research Administration & Teaching

BioZone’s research is aimed directly at creating a world where:

• everything we throw into our compost bins is converted efficiently into energy
• algae are farmed to produce clean, renewable food and energy
• natural enzymes are harnessed to convert crop residues into useful materials
• computers are used to design living cells that make green consumer products and cheap and effective pharmaceuticals
• bacteria are trained to clean up chemical pollutants in contaminated groundwater
• damaged tissue in sick or injured people can be repaired using engineered cells
• foods are enhanced with micronutrients to alleviate malnutrition around the world

Do you what to help? Ideal candidates will have a background in chemical engineering or applied microbiology, or both, have a practical, and a hands-on approach to research.

If you have applied to, or been accepted in, the University of Toronto’s MASc or MEng programs, and fit the description above, contact a BioZone Professor and find out if this is the opportunity for you.

Interested industrial partners, please contact BioZone, at info@biozone.utoronto.ca for more information.