Sequence Families Curator

at  European Molecular Biology Laboratory

Data Curation
Hinxton, UK
In this job
Your role
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Why join us
What else you need to know
More about EMBL-EBI
The Sequence Families team, led by Alex Bateman, at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) is responsible for a number of world-leading protein family annotation resources, including Pfam and InterPro.
Pfam is a database of protein families, represented by multiple sequence alignments and profile hidden Markov models (HMMs). InterPro is a resource that classifies protein sequences into families, and predicts the presence of functionally important domains and sites. It does this by incorporating protein signatures from 13 different specialist international member databases, including Pfam. We are seeking a Biocurator to join the team on a full time basis working on the InterPro/Pfam project and contribute to the content of InterPro and Pfam databases.
Your role
Reporting to the Sequence Families Project leader you will be part of the Curation Team that maintains the InterPro and Pfam resources. You will have the opportunity to critically evaluate protein signature models for inclusion in new or existing InterPro entries, as well as write descriptive abstracts and assign GO term annotations.
You will also maintain and update Pfam database entries based on both user contributions and scientific literature, and take part in other curation activities, as needed. Some tasks may require the use of command line tools, basic scripts, and/or direct querying of relational databases. You will work closely with the rest of the curation and development team to ensure timely updates and releases of the various resources. You will also respond to user queries and requests, as appropriate.

Create and maintain InterPro and Pfam entries through the assessment of protein signature models. This will involve using our curation interfaces and tools (using basic command line).
Write descriptive abstracts of protein families and domains, summarizing functional information found within the scientific literature.
Evaluating the results of LLM-based annotation processes.
Augment entries with annotation terms for use in automatic annotation pipelines, for example the use of GO annotations and other data standards.
Deliver training courses, webinars and other outreach activities.
Respond to user and collaborator queries and requests.
Closing date: 14 October 2024
Contract duration: 1 year
Grading: Grade 4 or 5 (monthly starting salary from £2,995.71 or £3229.13 after tax)
Reference number: EBI02284
You have
A degree in a biological or closely related scientific discipline, or equivalent experience in scientific data curation.
Several years of experience in curating biological data, and/or experimentally investigating proteins.
Experience with computational data entry and data standards.
Experience in widely used bioinformatics tools related to protein sequence searching and alignment is essential, using both GUI and command-line.
Ability to read, digest, and summarize scientific literature.
Basic/intermediate Linux/Unix commands.
Have excellent communication skills, both written and oral.
Attention to detail.
Ability to constructively critique database entries and annotations generated by others.
Able to manage time and meet deadlines.
Good team player
You might also have
A Ph.D. in a biological field would be advantageous but not essential.
Experience using HMMER suite to build and search profile HMMs, is highly desirable.
Demonstrated experience dealing with database helpdesks.
Basic knowledge of querying relational databases, e.g., MySQL.
Basic scripting knowledge
Why join us
Do something meaningful
At EMBL-EBI you can apply your talent and passion to accelerate science and tackle some of humankind’s greatest challenges. EMBL-EBI, part of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, is a worldwide leader in the storage, analysis and dissemination of large biological datasets. We provide the global research community with access to publicly available databases and tools which are crucial for the advancement of healthcare, food security, and biodiversity.
Join a culture of innovation
We are located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, alongside other prominent research and biotech organisations, and surrounded by beautiful Cambridgeshire countryside. This is a highly collaborative and inclusive community where our employees enjoy a relaxed atmosphere. We are committed to ensuring our employees feel valued, supported and empowered to reach their professional potential.