Garvan Institute of Medical Research brings together world leading scientists and clinicians, collaborating locally and globally, to advance our understanding of disease, particularly cancer, autoimmunity and genetic disorders. Garvan is a global leader in fundamental biomedical research and its translation. Our mission is to make discoveries that will improve health for all.

The Swarbrick lab are global leaders in the application of cellular genomics to human cancer, to find new diagnostics and treatments for society’s most challenging cancers. We are a diverse multidisciplinary team of scientists and clinicians with a vision to change cancer medicine. More information can be found at www.swarbricklab.com

Major projects include generation of an international, large-scale, multi-omic breast cancer atlas and understanding the cellular mediators of response to cancer immunotherapy in breast cancer and melanoma. The Laboratory is generating substantial single-cell sequencing (scRNA-Seq), spatial transcriptomics and other genomic and proteomic datasets from clinical samples and preclinical models. The RA will be actively working on the integration of these large multi-omic datasets and developing scalable, robust, cloud-based computational frameworks.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Research Assistant provides essential technical and operational support to a research laboratory or group. The primary purpose of this role is to enable and facilitate high-quality medical research while optimising productivity through technical expertise and efficient resource management. Appointees typically hold a Bachelor’s Degree or a Master’s Degree and work with an increasing sense of direction and autonomy as they gain experience.

Research Assistants are appointed on a salary scale depending on level of experience, performance and requirements of the role required within the lab/group. For further information, refer to Garvan’s Research Assistant & Senior Research Assistant Criteria.

Salary: Up to $94,300 + 14% super + salary packaging (depending on experience)

Employment Type: 2 year fixed-term contract with possibility to extend

SNAPSHOT OF BENEFITS

Generous salary packaging to save you income tax on your wages thereby boosting your monthly take home pay (max. $15,900 general expenses + $2,650 meals/accom)

Ample opportunities for on-going training and development

Stimulating, diverse and highly international research environment

Flexible work arrangements e.g. start / finish times

18 weeks paid parental leave for both parents including paid superannuation

A range of additional leave types to meet your personal needs including cultural leave, conference leave, community service and study leave

Discounted Health Insurance

Lifestyle discounts with our community partners

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Depending on level of experience and requirements of the role, a Research Assistant is typically expected to:

1. Scientific Excellence

Experimental Execution: Developing, maintaining and executing bioinformatic pipelines/workflows, particularly in relation to scRNA-seq and spatial transcriptomic data.

Optimisation: Contribute to the existing codebase in collaboration with other team members, including debugging, refactoring and enhancing legacy code. Adopt, test and benchmark analytical packages for incorporation into analyses and standardised pipelines.

Data management: Track, archive and actively manage raw and processed data in accordance with established procedures and policies

Specialist Advice: Provide technical advice to researchers within the group regarding specific research methods, instruments, and analysis tools.

Data integrity: Ensure all research data is accurate, high-quality, and conforms to good scientific practice, ensuring it is accessible to other researchers as required.

Scientific Communication: Communicate experimental results to researchers and collaborators through written reports and effective visual formats.

Scholarly Contribution: Assist In the preparation of research papers and contribute content to grant applications and research proposals.

2. Team Leadership

Mentorship & Training: Train students, postdocs, and peers on data collection, specialised tools, and laboratory safety protocols.

Personal Growth: Take responsibility for own professional development by attending workshops and seeking to learn new techniques to support the group’s evolving research needs.

Team Collaboration: Work effectively as a reliable and approachable member of the research team, fostering a collaborative environment.

3. Resources & Planning

Lab Coordination: Manage internal communications, such as scheduling team meetings and research presentations.

Compliance & Outputs: Manage research data and outputs to ensure compliance with open access requirements of funding bodies and publishers.

Project Delivery: Balance the competing needs and timelines of multiple research projects within the lab and with external collaborators to meet deadlines.

4. Institute Contributions

Values & Integrity: Demonstrate scientific and professional integrity at all times, acting as a role model for ethical behaviour.

Active Participation: Contribute to the wider institute community by participating in committees, outreach projects, or donor activities.

5. Health & Safety and Risk Management

Comply with Garvan’s workplace polices (as amended from time to time) and especially Garvan’s Work Health & Safety (WHS) Policy, including working in accordance with the WHS management system at all times, as safety is Garvan’s number one priority.

Proactively identify, assess, and report operational, financial, and safety risks associated with the duties of this role. The incumbent is required to adhere to the organisation’s Risk Management Framework, ensure all activities are conducted in accordance with established policies and procedures, and contribute to a culture of continuous improvement by suggesting mitigation strategies for identified hazards or inefficiencies.

ABOUT YOU

The key skills and experience include:

Essential Knowledge:

BSc or MSc in computer science or a quantitative discipline (Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Mathematics and Statistics, Physics, Software Engineering, or a related field)

Experience with version control systems, particularly Git

Experience using R and/or Python programming language

Familiarity with the Unix command line and high-performance computing environments and/or cloud computing

Desirable Knowledge:

Knowledge of the fundamentals of molecular biology: DNA transcription and translation

Experience in the analysis of large molecular datasets, such as whole genome and transcriptomic sequencing data

Experience in handling, processing, and interpreting large-scale biological datasets derived from scRNA-seq and spatial technologies (such as Visium or Xenium)

Experience in machine learning, deep learning, and foundational models would be preferred but not essential

Experience working in a multidisciplinary team

Appreciation of ethical dimensions of clinical research

Personal Qualities:

Excellent communication skills for written reports and oral presentations

Excellent organisational and time management skills

Strong desire to work co-operatively with other team members

Commitment to data organisation and implementation of quality controls

An interest in understanding how cancers evolve and progress

ABOUT GARVAN

Garvan Institute of Medical Research is an independent Medical Research Institute (MRI) in Sydney, delivering scientific and clinical impact on a global basis and in partnership with organisations that share our vision. We are proud to be one of Australia’s largest and most highly regarded MRI’s.

Our vision is global leadership in discoveries to impact and our enduring purpose is to impact human health, by harnessing information encoded in our genome.

We seek to see our world-class discovery research achieve life-changing impacts, not only for individual patients with rare diseases, but for the many thousands affected by complex, common disease.

Garvan promotes a diverse workplace and is committed to the principles of equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging. We are always looking for culture ‘add’, not culture ‘fit’ and are building diverse teams with great sets of complementary styles and skills to help deliver our important work effectively.

HOW TO APPLY

To apply for this position, please submit your application with a CV and cover letter as one document, stating why you are interested in this role. We are reviewing applications as they are received. If you think you’re the right person for this role, we’d love to hear how your capabilities, achievements and experience set you apart. Only applicants with full working rights in Australia are eligible to apply for this role.