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    phymcmc

    MASyV

Employment opportunities within the Virophysics group

Type of work: Research in our group focuses on applying computer and math modelling techniques commonly used in physics to tackle research questions in health research (virology, immunology, ergonomics, brain science) and beyond. We are not an experimental group: the data used in our research is gathered elsewhere and obtained through our collaborations or the literature.

Example projects Analysis of time-series data of elongation of prion/tau/alpha-synuclein fibrils in quaking assays (understand how brain disease-causing fibrils stick together, break-up, elongate and how this is monitored via fluorescence readouts in quaking assays); Analysis of the time-varying concentration of infectious virus released by infected cells over the course of an in vitro infection experiment with viruses such as influenza or the respiratory syncytial virus; Comparing cancer tumour growth models, estimating model parameters and predicting growth trajectory of tumours in human patients and animals; See our publications and people page for current and past projects by group members. Want to learn more? check out this public lecture by Prof. Beauchemin.

Day-to-day research activities literature review of various aspects of the research topic, constructing or improving math and/or computer models of the target system (e.g. simulation of an experimental system using ODEs, PDEs or agent-based models), estimating model parameters from Bayes' theorem using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods (see our python library phymcmc), and other data analysis techniques.

Required skills: applicants should love and be good at programming (preferably in python), have a solid understanding of mathematics, and have a genuine interest in understanding the details (e.g. experimental protocols) of the experimental system being studied.

Bonus skills: knowledge of the Linux OS, LaTeX, python’s pandas, matplotlib, numpy, a love for and commitment to open source/science/data.

How to apply: Send your CV (in PDF format) along with the reasons for your interest in working in this area and what you are hoping to gain from it (in PDF format or in the body of the email) via email to . If you are an undergraduate or graduate student applicant, be sure to also include your up-to-date unofficial undergraduate (and graduate, if applicable) transcript in PDF format.

Positions

• Postdoctoral fellow
  Ideal candidates will hold a PhD in Physics (computational, quantum, particle, theoretical) or Applied Mathematics, possess a solid command of programming (python, octave and/or C), and have excellent written English skills. No experience with bio/virology required or expected.
  
  
• Graduate (MSc and PhD) student
  For more information about the Physics graduate programme in Complex Systems (M.Sc. and Ph.D.), please visit the website. Note that I can also supervise M.Sc. and Ph.D. students through other Science graduate programmes. If you would like to register in a different MSc or PhD programme at TorontoMU, contact me and we can find out if a co-supervision through the Department of your choice can be arranged, within reason.
  
  
• Undergraduate reseach assistant
  If your cummulative GPA is above 3.50/4.33 and you are interested in the research being conducted in our group, please first try out the bootcamp. If you enjoyed it and feel you are good at this sort of stuff, please contact me to enquire about possible undergraduate research assistantship or 4th year thesis positions available within our group. Around January of each year, you should consider applying for a fully-funded research opportunity as NSERC USRA or a TMU URO. The exact deadline can be hard to figure out (check out this page), so feel free to send me an email to enquire about these paid opportunities.