Graduate Teaching Assistantship for Computational Genomics Course

Description, Responsibilities, and Qualifications

Background on the Computational Genomics Course:

Sponsored by the Mayo Clinic & Illinois Alliance, this week-long virtual course for scientists and clinicians covers the basics of computational genomics, while integrating the latest technologies and computational methodologies. University of Illinois faculty and Mayo Clinic scientists teach lectures and introduce self-paced lab exercises in a variety of subject areas including genome sequencing and assembly, polymorphism and variant analysis, epigenomics, and systems biology. See the Computational Genomics Course website for details of the 2025 offering of this course.

Major Duties and Responsibilities: 

Prior to the course:

• Coordinate with course coordinator and instructors to obtain final lecture and lab materials to post on course website and or IGB Cluster prior to start of course.
• Work with IGB CNRG (IT) staff and the lead TA to extensively test the lab sections of the course
• Provide recorded introductions to introduce the self-directed lab session to course participants. 
• Update the attendee lab manual as needed
• With assistance from IGB CNRG, and the course coordinator, oversee and lead a technical testing session/course rehearsal in front of the director and course staff (IGB and Mayo Clinic) the week prior to the course 
• Perform other duties as assigned by course director

Week of the course: 

• Provide or assist with coordination of the virtual course 
• Working with IHSI staff, ensure final versions of lecture/labs have been posted to the course website 
• Be present during all lecture/lab sessions in the course (via video conferencing).   
• Assist with monitoring technical problems related to Jupyter hub and IGB cluster
• Assist with attendee’s technical questions in real time as appropriate, primarily during lab sessions.
• Take notes on areas of the course that can be improved for future workshops
• Perform other duties as assigned by course director

Week after the course:

• Participate in an exit interview to provide coordinators with course feedback
• Perform closing duties as assigned by course director

Position Requirements and Qualifications:

Required: 

• Currently enrolled graduate student at time of course
• Taken and passed at least one course on bioinformatics at the undergraduate or graduate level
• Experience with Linux command line interface and Jupiter Hub (optional)
• Experience with Bash, Python, and R programing language syntax
• You must be present on campus during the week of the course

Preferred: 

• Has taken the Computational Genomics course in a past offering.
• Experience using bioinformatics tools for genomics (e.g., BLAST, samtools, GATK)