Assistant Engineer Biostatistician using Genomics and Machine Learning

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INRAE presentation

The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE) is a major player in research and innovation. It is a community of 12,000 people with 272 research, experimental research, and support units located in 18 regional centres throughout France. Internationally, INRAE is among the top research organisations in the agricultural and food sciences, plant and animal sciences, as well as in ecology and environmental science. It is the world’s leading research organisation specialising in agriculture, food and the environment. INRAE’s goal is to be a key player in the transitions necessary to address major global challenges. Faced with a growing world population, climate change, resource scarcity, and declining biodiversity, the Institute has a major role to play in building solutions and supporting the necessary acceleration of agricultural, food and environmental transitions.

Work environment, missions and activities

You will join the DGIMI Joint Research Unit (UMR) "Diversity, Genomes & Microorganism–Insect Interactions" (INRAE–University of Montpellier; https://dgimi.hub.inrae.fr/), which brings together around thirty permanent staff members. The research unit investigates the interactions between lepidopteran crop pests and their environment, with a particular focus on their interactions with pathogens (viruses, bacteria, nematodes, and parasitoids) and host plants.

You will join a research team specialized in evolutionary genomics of agricultural pest insects. Our research focuses on identifying the evolutionary history of pest insects under selective pressures from human activities, such as pest control.

You will participate in a machine-learning-based project to predict key phenotypic features of pest insects, such as host plant associations, using whole-genome sequences. This project is funded by the Rural Development Administration (a South Korean Agency). We focus on lepidopteran pest species, which are increasingly becoming a global concern due to factors including crop damage, invasion, and insecticide resistance. Under the hypothesis that whole-genome sequences contain evolutionary signals associated with these damaging characteristics, you will develop software to predict these traits using genomic data.

In this role, you will be responsible for the following activities:

• Organizing large-scale whole-genome datasets.
• Generating high-quality datasets from raw genomic data.
• Developing machine-learning models to predict key elements of pest insect species.
• Generating and maintaining on-premise or online software tools.
• Participating in the dissemination of research results.
• Oral and written presentation to the Rural Development Administration

Your working language will be English for the project.

Training and skills

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in Computer Science or Computational Science.
• Proven experience in machine learning applied to insect whole-genome resequencing data
• Experience in software development for a real project.

Required Technical Skills

• Proficiency in computer programming (Python, PHP, Javascript, or equivalent)
• Knowledge in machine-learning
• Handling a whole genome dataset
• Web-platform development

 

INRAE's life quality

By joining our teams, you benefit from (depending on the type of contract and its duration):

- up to 30 days of annual leave + 15 days "Reduction of Working Time" (for a full time);
- parenting support: CESU childcare, leisure services;
- skills development systems: training, career advise;
- social support: advice and listening, social assistance and loans;
- holiday and leisure services: holiday vouchers, accommodation at preferential rates;
- sports and cultural activities;
- collective catering.

How to apply

I send my CV and my motivation letter