CSIRO Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biological Mathematics - CSIRO - ResearchCareer

First listed on: 28 July 2021

CSIRO Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biological Mathematics

 

The Opportunity

  • Do you have a PhD in applied mathematics?
  • Keen to work with scientific leaders across multiple disciplines and teams?
  • Exciting opportunity to help CSIRO quantify the complex risks of genetic vector control

CSIRO Early Research Career (CERC) Postdoctoral Fellowships provide opportunities to scientists and engineers who have completed their doctorate and have less than three years of relevant postdoctoral work experience. These fellowships aim to develop the next generation of future leaders of the innovation system.

The Postdoctoral Fellow will work on a project to predict the population dynamics of disease vectors at continental scales to quantify the risks of using gene-drives to control vector-borne pathogens, such as malaria in Africa or Ross River Fever in Australia, and thereby develop CSIRO’s expertise to solve the complex risk assessment challenges learnt from decades of engagement in genetic control.

The Postdoctoral Fellow will work within a multidisciplinary team across several CSIRO business units. The Postdoctoral Fellow will work with statisticians and applied mathematicians in the CSIRO Data61 Ecological and Environmental Risk Assessment Team and may also collaborate with CSIRO’s Health and Biosecurity Risk Evaluation and Preparedness Team, through the on-going relationship between Paul de Barro and the team leader, Keith Hayes. The Postdoctoral Fellow will liaise with the whole-of-ecosystem modelling capability held by the Marine Socio-ecological Systems Team, in the CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Marine Systems Modelling and Informatics Group, and interface with the high-performance computing strategies developed by CSIRO Mineral Resources.

To be considered you will need:

  • A doctorate (or will shortly satisfy the requirements of a PhD) in a relevant discipline area, such as applied mathematics. Please note: To be eligible for this role you must have no more than 3 years (or part-time equivalent) of postdoctoral research experience.
  • Demonstrated expertise in spatio-temporal modelling of biological populations.
  • High level computational and programming skills and a willingness to learn other languages if needed.
  • High level written and oral communication skills with the ability to represent the research team effectively internally and externally, including the presentation of research outcomes at national and international conferences.
  • A sound history of publication in peer reviewed journals and/or authorship of scientific papers, reports, grant applications or patents.

For full details about this role please view the Position Description

Your duties will include:

  • Building a high-resolution, multi-species, continent-scale, simulation platform that is capable of replicating the observed population dynamics of multiple mosquito species.
  • Leveraging CSIRO’s capability in complex, whole-of-ecosystem modelling, together with our high performance computing capability to implement the model and perform sensitivity analysis to identify critical parameters.
  • Researching continent-scale databases such as Digital Earth Africa Map to access longitudinal data on key environmental factors such human density, rainfall, temperature, wind direction and velocity, and the location of surface water bodies.
  • Researching and accessing global longitudinal data sets on mosquito vector abundance, such as those collated by VectorBase to quantify the accuracy of the model predictions.
  • Modelling the effect of genetic and contemporary vector control strategies drawing upon information collated by agencies such as the World Health Organisation and the President’s Malaria Initiative.

Location: Hobart, Tasmania
Salary: AU$88k - AU$96k plus up to 15.4% superannuation
Tenure: Specified term of 3 years
Reference: 75884

Eligibility

To be eligible to for role, you must be an Australian/New Zealand Citizen, Australian Permanent Resident or Australian temporary resident currently residing in Australia and be able to commence in the role by December 2021/January 2022.

The successful applicant will be required to obtain and provide a National Police Check.

Flexible Working Arrangements

We work flexibly at CSIRO, offering a range of options for how, when and where you work. 

Diversity and Inclusion

We are working hard to recruit people representing the diversity across our society, and ensure that all our people feel supported to do their best work and feel empowered to let their ideas flourish. 

About CSIRO

At CSIRO Australia's national science agency, we solve the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology. We put the safety and wellbeing of our people above all else and earn trust everywhere because we only deal in facts. We collaborate widely and generously and deliver solutions with real impact. 

Join us and start creating tomorrow today!

How to Apply

Please apply on-line and provide a cover letter and CV that best demonstrate your motivation and ability to meet the requirements of this role.

Applications Close

31 August 2021, 11:00pm AEST/AEDT