A PhD scholarship is now open for a highly motivated and productive student in the Computational Biology Research Group at Massey University, New Zealand. The successful candidate will study how human social arrangements, such as marriage practices, affect patterns of genetic diversity in small communities. Although there is scope to accommodate existing research interests, the successful candidate will develop, implement and test new methods in statistical genetics, and apply these methods to genetic and cultural anthropology datasets. This research will initially be directed toward determining whether human social practices have constrained or directed genetic evolution in the Pacific region, a major focus of my research group.

This PhD scholarship offers a rare opportunity to develop your skills as a researcher within an internationally recognized computational biology research group, while taking advantage of New Zealand’s unique natural and cultural environment. Palmerston North, a university town with a large international community, offers a full range of social and cultural amenities. The city is located close to the North Island’s central mountains, and presents regular opportunities for hiking, skiing, surfing and adventure sports, as well as experiencing New Zealand’s unique indigenous culture. Nevertheless, my research group maintains extensive international connections, especially with colleagues in Australia, Indonesia, France and the United States, and is linked firmly into the international scientific community.

Minimum  Qualifications:
– A Masters or Honors degree (First Class or equivalent) in computational biology, bioinformatics, applied mathematics, computer science, population genetics, molecular evolution, or other relevant field.
– Able to conduct independent cutting-edge research.
– Solid analytical, quantitative and mathematical skills.
– Experience with probabilistic modeling and statistical genetics.
– Candidates should be comfortable working in a UNIX environment, and have a strong programming background.

Preferred Qualification:
– Candidates with a background in interdisciplinary research, spanning both biological sciences and applied mathematics/computer science, are especially encouraged to apply.
– Candidates should have proven research experience, preferably with evidence of scientific publications.
– Candidates will ideally be conversant in a compiled programming language (e.g., C or C++), a scripting language (e.g., Perl), and a statistical environment (e.g., R).
– Experience with parallel computing on large clusters and/or parallel programming would be highly advantageous

Scholarship Application Deadline: 15 May 2011

Further Scholarship Inforation and Application