Research Officer – InFer Project

Job title: Research Officer – InFer Project

Company: Teagasc


Job description: Job DescriptionDuration:Temporary externally funded non Grant-in-Aid contract post, the indicative duration of which is 44.5 months, subject to contract. A panel may be formed from which future similar vacancies may be filled; such a panel will remain active for a maximum period of 12 months.Basic FunctionTeagasc seeks to recruit a Research Officer to an exciting Research Ireland funded position. The successful candidate will be a self-motivated researcher who will be involved in all aspects of the project, with a particular focus on microbiology, fermented food development, microbiome analysis/bioinformatics (shotgun metagenomics and/or metatranscirptomic/RNASeq), as well as co-coordinating the pig studies. Other tasks will include working with Professor Cotter to coordinate budgets and manage administrative aspects, data, risk, logistics and timelines. They will also work closely with two InFer funded PhD students, collaborators and the funding agency.BackgroundResearch Ireland has funded the project entitled “InFer: Investigating the specific impact of fermented foods, and associated components, on the gut microbiome and health”. InFer is led by Teagasc through Professor Paul Cotter. The focus of the project is to identify and optimise the microorganisms and other components present in specific fermented foods, and to assess their impact on gut health using in vivo models.Job Objectives

• Characterise fermented foods and gut microbiomes
• Culture fermented food microbes to generate new communities and foods
• Prepare for and co-ordinate pig studies
• Contribute to management of the project and supervision of PhD students
• To assist Teagasc in meeting the commitments of the Quality Customer Service Charter and Action Plan.
• To actively participate in the annual business planning and Performance Management Development System (PMDS) processes.
• Fully co-operate with the provisions made for ensuring the health, safety and welfare of themselves, fellow staff and non-Teagasc staff and co-operate with management in enabling Teagasc to comply with legal obligations. This includes full compliance with the responsibilities outlined in the Safety Statement.
• Any other duties as may be assigned from time to time

• This job specification is intended as a guide to the general range of duties and is intended to be neither definitive nor restrictive. It will be reviewed from time to time with the post holder.

Skills RequirementEssentialDesirableQualifications

• An honours Level 8 degree, (as recognised on the

or ), in Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology, Microbiology or a related discipline.

• A postgraduate degree and/or research experience in Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology, Microbiology would be a distinct advantage

Skills/Knowledge

• Demonstrated research and technical expertise relating to one or more of the following:
• Characterization, development and scale up of fermented foods
• Molecular microbiology
• Bioinformatic analysis of microbiome data
• Working with animal models
• Evidence of research activity (publications, conference presentations, awards) and future scholarly output (working papers, research proposals, etc.)
• Excellent project management, analytical, report writing and data analysis skills.

• Experience in analyzing gut metagenomic data
• Experience in setting own research agenda.
• Evidence of teamwork and collaboration with relevant partners.

Behavioural Competencies

• Ability to work as part of a team, including consulting, collaborating and building relationships with key stakeholders.
• Commitment to teamwork and collaborating with colleagues as per our Teagasc Together ethos.
• Excellent communication skills (oral, written, presentation) with an ability to enable effective knowledge and technology transfer.
• Ability to generate new ideas, unique concepts, models and solutions.

Eligibility This is an open public competition. Should a current serving Teagasc staff member be successful in their application through open public competition for this post, their current contract of employment with Teagasc will come to an end on taking up this post.Note: The ‘essential’ qualifications, knowledge, skills and behavioural competencies outlined above are ‘must-have’ which will be used in the selection process.

Expected salary: €41580 – 78830 per year

Location: Fermoy, Co Cork

Job date: Sat, 31 May 2025 07:33:28 GMT

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