This is a 5-year project, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to establish an Integrated Genotyping Service and Support (IGSS) to support African breeding programs with genome profiling and Information Technologies.
The project is based at the Biosciences Eastern and Central Africa-International Livestock Research Institute (BecA-ILRI) Hub, Nairobi, in partnership with a private sector company, Diversity Arrays Technology Pty Ltd (DArT PL), Australia.
ILRI works with partners worldwide to enhance the roles that livestock play in food security and poverty alleviation, principally in Africa and Asia.
The outcomes of these research partnerships help people in developing countries keep their farm animals alive and productive, increase and sustain their livestock and farm productivity, find profitable markets for their animal products, and reduce the risk of livestock-related diseases.
ILRI is a not-for-profit institution with a staff of about 700 and in 2015, an operating budget of about USD83 million. A member of the CGIAR Consortium working for a food-secure future, ILRI has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, a principal campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and offices in other countries in East, West and Southern Africa and in South, Southeast and East Asia.
ILRI also manages the Biosciences Eastern and Central Africa (BecA) Hub, the centre for excellence in modern plant and animal biology in Africa.BecA is an initiative developed within the framework of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)/ African Union African Biosciences initiative.
It consists of a Hub based on the ILRI campus in Nairobi, Kenya and a network of regional nodes and other affiliated laboratories and organizations throughout the region.
The BecA Hub facilities are world class, including a range of molecular, plant transformation, Bioinformatics (http://hpc.ilri.cgiar.org/), and genomics laboratories and equipment (e.g. Illumina MiSeq, Biosafety level 3 laboratory, plant growth facilities).
The Hub hosts and conducts research in crop, microbe and livestock areas where new developments in science offer promise to address previously intractable problems constraining Africa’s development. Capacity building is one of the major goals of all activities.
The scope covers agriculture and food security and their intersections with human health and nutrition, and the sustainable use of Africa’s natural resources.
Further information is available at:http://hub.africabiosciences.org/
Requirements
Strong interests in agriculture and genetic improvement in particular is an essential criterion but not a MUST.
Successful applicants will be trained for approximately 6 months in DArT PL’s headquarters in Canberra, Australia.
Each candidate will have his/her mini-project to execute, but at a later stage of the training will also be involved in regular operations of DArT PL. At the end of the training period, a certificate will be awarded to all candidates; however, only seven (7) candidates with the best credentials will be employed as Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) to operate the IGSS platform in Nairobi.
How to apply
Applicants should CLICK HERE to send a cover letter and CV explaining their interest in the position, what they can bring to the role and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience to the Director, People and Organizational Development through our recruitment portal before 31 January 2016.
The position title and reference number: TR/IGSS/ BECA /01/16 should be clearly marked on the subject line of the online application.
ILRI is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
