Research Assistant

Stellenbosch University is recognised as one of the four top research universities in South Africa. It takes pride in the fact that it has one of the country's highest proportions of postgraduate students of which almost ten percent are international students. The University lies in the picturesque Jonkershoek Valley in the heart of the Western Cape Winelands. The University has ten faculties, of which eight - AgriSciences, Arts and Social Sciences, Education, Engineering, Law, Science, Theology and the larger part of Economic and Management Sciences - are located on the main campus in Stellenbosch with the Faculty of Health Sciences situated on the Tygerberg campus and the Faculty of Military Science in Saldanha. The University's Business School is situated at the Bellville Park campus. The campuses of Stellenbosch University make up a vibrant melting pot of different cultures and various student organisations can be found on the four campuses. They cater for a wide range of interests such as culture, politics, religions, spiritual concern and relaxation. There are also a number of well-know and established student activities, such as RAG that add to the unique experience of being a Matie, as a student of Stellenbosch is affectionately known. Duties/Pligte Culture of Mycobacterium tuberculosis; RNA extraction; cDNA synthesis; RT-qPCR; Illumina library preparation; High throughput sequencing; SOP development. Job Requirements/Pos Vereistes MSc degree in microbiology, or biochemistry, or molecular biology, or mycobacteriology, or bioinformatics; A track record in undertaking research; Strong written and verbal communication skills. Recommendation/Aanbeveling Experience in the field of Tuberculosis (working under BSL-3 conditions); Experience in next generation sequencing methods and subsequent bioinformatics analyses (RNA- seq will be preferred); Experience in molecular biology methods (experience with RNA manipulation will be advantageous).