Research Officer, Laboratory of AI in Genomics (GIS)

Job Description

The Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) is the national flagship for genomic sciences, driving cutting-edge research at the intersection of biology, engineering, and medicine. This position is offered in the Laboratory of AI in Genomics, led by Prof. Mile Šikić, which uses advanced bioinformatics and deep learning approaches to develop next-generation models for genomic data analysis. We are group a of computer scientist with a mission to improve healthcare using advance deep learning models. Located in the heart of Singapore’s thriving biomedical hub, GIS offers a dynamic and collaborative environment, with close ties to world-class universities (NUS and NTU), pharmaceutical companies, and biotech start-ups. Joining our team means working on transformative projects with real-world impact, while benefiting from Singapore’s vibrant research ecosystem and strong support for innovation.

Project background:

De novo genome assembly has been one of the most challenging problems in genomics. However, with development of new long read sequencing technologies, new assemblers and manually curated high quality benchmarks including CHM13, HG002 and I002C assembling most of human chromosomes T2T has become a routine task.

This project will focus on a more challenging task, assembling of human cancer genomes which are especially difficult due to cancer genome heterogeneity. Using the fact that we can reconstruct normal tissue genomes routinely we aim to reconstruct cancer genomes.

Job duties and responsibilities:

We invite brilliant minds in computer science to join us at the cutting-edge of cancer genomics research, harnessing the power of artificial intelligence or classical algorithms. Your job will involve either the development of new algorithms or deep learning models focusing on understanding cancer genomes. The focus will be on de novo genome assembly methods for reconstructing cancer genomes or developing new generative RNA/DNA/epigenome/epitranscriptome foundation models and agents aiming to speed up therapeutics development.

The duties include development of AI models or algorithms.

Job Requirements:

• Bachelor or Master in Computer Science, Mathematics or Physics
• Experienced in deep learning or classical algorithms
• Experienced in Pytorch for deep learning or C/C++ or Rust for classical algorithms
• Experienced with bioinformatics methods and tools for (a) variant calling, and/or (b) de novo assembly and/or (c) long read sequencing analysis;
• Proficiency in Python, and genomics and machine learning libraries therein.
• Keen interest in programming, algorithm development, mathematics, complexity, and puzzles.

The above eligibility criteria are not exhaustive. A*STAR may include additional selection criteria based on its prevailing recruitment policies. These policies may be amended from time to time without notice. We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.