Graduate and Post-doc positions are available in the BIMIB laboratory of DISCo Università Milano Bicocca, Italy, in the field of Systems Biology (http://bimib.disco.unimib.it).

The research to be conducted will target the simulation of intestinal crypts in conjunction with the development of colon-rectal cancer (CRC). The research will explore the possibility of running several control-theoretic schemes in order to form hypotheses about the role of different regulatory and metabolic actors in the development of CRC. Alongside this line of research, there is the need to develop visualization schemes for “enrichment maps” produced by various gene-set enrichment analysis tools, and visualization schemes for the display of “active pathways” starting from experimental data (in conjunction with the BioPax exchange medium).

The applicant will either have a computational biology background, a biology/biomedical background with interests in computer science and mathematical modeling and optimization, or a mathematical modeling, optimization, and heuristics, and computer science background with interests in biology and medicine. Knowledge of mathematical and statistical software such as Matlab™, Mathematica™ and R (or similar) is expected. Knowledge of parallel and distributed computing systems, data-base and programming language development systems is a plus. The research may be directed to the development of Cytoscape plugins, thus previous knowledge of such (and similar) systems will also be considered positively.

The positions are funded by the Lombardy Region (Regione Lombardia) grant ASTIL (regional decree 1669 of June 18th 2010) and by the Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca. The project will be carried out in collaboration with theTerrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research of the University of Toronto, Canada. The positions are for 18 months and come with a net salary of about 1450 EUR per month. The starting date will be November 1st 2010.

To apply, please send

1. a curriculum vitae (with a list of publications) 
2. a statement of research 
3. a list of two or more references

to retronet-jobs [atsign-here] disco.unimib.it. The deadline for application submissions is September 30, 2010 at 23:59 GMT+1.  Web site: http://bimib.disco.unimib.it.

Due to the complexities of the University of Milan Bicocca rules and regulations and Italian Law, the candidates will be required to submit a paper copy of their application by the first week of October.