Postdoctoral Fellow – Systems Genetics and Precision Health

About the team/job

EMBL is Europe’s life sciences laboratory – an intergovernmental organisation with more than 110 independent research groups and service teams covering the spectrum of molecular biology. It operates across six sites in Heidelberg (headquarters), Barcelona, Cambridge, Grenoble, Hamburg and Rome. Our mission is to perform basic research in molecular biology; train scientists, students and visitors at all levels; offer vital services to scientists in the public and private sectors within the member states; develop new instruments and methods; and engage actively in technology transfer.

The Steinmetz group at EMBL Heidelberg is seeking an ambitious postdoctoral fellow with interest in cardiomyopathies and genome biology. We work on novel strategies to treat cardiomyopathies and to understand the underlying disease and drug mechanisms. Our approach is based on cutting-edge functional genomics assays and single-cell technologies in combination with complex 2D and 3D disease model systems. The successful candidate will be able to work within an established team of scientists, research technicians, and a strong network of collaborators from academia and industry

Your role

• Take a lead on your project and come up with innovative solutions to complex scientific problems.
• Design and execute experiments in vitro and/or in vivo, such as iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes and cardiac organoids.
• Develop and perform pooled functional genomic screens in complex disease model systems and characterize hits from those screens in vitro and in vivo.
• Generate single-cell and spatial omics datasets across modalities to gain insights into disease and drug mechanisms.
• Develop and maintain partnerships with academic and industry collaborators.
• Collaborate closely with computational experts, genomics technology experts, and leverage the unique capacities of the EMBL core facilities.
• Present your work internally and at international conferences.

You have

Essential requirements:

• PhD in biological sciences
• Extensive hands-on experience and proven track-record in the use of a wide range of cellular, biochemical and cell biological assays.
• Experience in at least one of these fields: Genome editing tools, single-cell technologies, iPSC-model systems.
• Ability to lead a project and plan ahead, be well organized and know how to use resources efficiently.
• Excellent English communication and writing skills.

You might also have

• Experience in data analysis (R, Python, command line)
• Experience with different drug modalities (e.g. base editors, RNAi), delivery tools (e.g. AAVs, lipids, antibodies), drug uptake and intracellular trafficking mechanisms.

Why join us

This is a fantastic opportunity to develop and apply cutting-edge genomics technologies to disease-relevant model systems. The Steinmetz Lab works across two sites at EMBL Heidelberg and Stanford University and in an interdisciplinary manner across diverse projects, integrating experimental and computational biology.

EMBL is curiosity-driven, community-oriented and international. As an inclusive, equal opportunity employer, we believe that diversity enables us to collaborate more effectively and be innovative in our approaches. We are, therefore, committed to creating an inclusive and flexible culture - one where everyone can realise their full potential and make a positive contribution to our organisation.

We encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing team – we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and personal experiences reflect the diversity of the populations that our science serves. We actively encourage applications from all genders and cultures, ethnic groups and all demographics to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights at this transformational point in our people strategy.

EMBL offers attractive conditions and benefits appropriate to an international research organisation with a very collegial and family-friendly working environment. Competitive salary and social security benefits, financial support for relocation, a relaxed culture, professional development, an on-site nursery, canteen and other staff facilities make EMBL a great place to work.

**Don’t meet every single requirement? We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply nevertheless.

What else you need to know

We are Europe’s research laboratory for the life sciences – an intergovernmental organisation performing scientific research in disciplines including molecular biology, physics, chemistry and computer science. We are an international, innovative and interdisciplinary laboratory with more than 1900 employees from many nations, operating across six sites, in Heidelberg (HQ), Barcelona, Hinxton near Cambridge, Hamburg, Grenoble and Rome.

Our mission is to offer vital services in training scientists, students and visitors at all levels; to develop new instruments and methods in the life sciences and actively engage in technology transfer activities, and to integrate European life science research. The working language of the institute is English.

In your online application, you will be asked to include a cover letter and a CV. 

Please note that appointments on fixed term contracts can be renewed up to 9 years in total, depending on circumstances at the time of the review.

EMBL is a signatory of DORA. Find out how we implement best practices in research assessment in our recruitment processes here.

Please apply online through: www.embl.org/jobs