Research opportunities in Wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 at NIBMG

The National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG) is an Institute of Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council of Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. This is the first institution in India explicitly devoted to research, training, translation & service and capacity-building in Biomedical Genomics. It is located in Kalyani, West Bengal, India, near Kolkata.

Post : Project Scientist-I (1 post)

Project Title : Expansion of INSACOG - Wastewater Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2, Emerging Pathogens and Antimicrobial Resistance through Genomics-Based Methods

BRIC-NIBMG was an important core laboratory and integral partner of Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortium (INSACOG) from its establishment during the COVID-19 pandemic, December, 2020. It has established a nationwide network of laboratories for SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance in phase I and expanded to include Sewage Surveillance for setting an early alarm system for SARS-CoV-2 community infection and Hospital Network Study for understanding the the clinical course, severity, risk factors and outcomes of patients affected with various strains of SARS-CoV-2, in phase II. Now INSACOG is expanding beyond SARS-CoV-2 to set a pan-India surveillance system for all emerging, known and priority pathogens (both viral and bacterial) to establish nationwide baseline information for viral and bacterial pathogens along with their AMR capacity and setting an early warning system for any disease surge and aid in identifying variants of concern, facilitating timely updates for vaccines and therapeutics. This multi-institutional project has been funded through Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), under Grand Challenges India program.

Consolidated Remuneration [INR] per month : 56,000 + 27% HRA
Essential Qualifications : PhD in Life Science with experience in host/microbial genomics
Age limit : 35 yrs
Desirable Qualifications : Experience in wet lab methods for bacterial and viral identification and sequencing, metagenomic and antimicrobial resistance profiling. Peer reviewed publications in the relevant field.

Nature of Duty : Coordination of the wet lab work pertaining to the project and preparing monthly reports as well as execution of different types of lab work on bacterial and viral DNA/RNA isolation and sequencing, metagenomic and culturomics study

Online Interview
This position is contractual, and appointment will be initially upto 08-04-2027, which is extendable depending upon performance and requirements of the project.
1. Interested candidates should submit the filled up form to applsmlab.gmail.com with a subject line “application for the post of (Name of the post)in the project “Expansion of INSACOG - Wastewater Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2, Emerging Pathogens and Antimicrobial Resistance through Genomics-Based Methods “within 02-06-2026 before 5pm.
2. Only the shortlisted candidates will be sent the Interview Link (TEAMS).
3. Please visit our website nibmg.ac.in for further information.
4. If selected, you will be asked to produce all documents in original. If the documents don’t truly reflect what is mentioned in the advertisement, your candidature will be cancelled.
5. The decision of NIBMG in all matters relating to eligibility, acceptance or rejection of application, mode of selection, and conduct of interviews will be final and binding on the candidates.