Postdoc in bovine TB modelling at University College Dublin (BTB-MOSAIC)

🐄 We're hiring! Postdoc in bovine TB modelling at University College Dublin (BTB-MOSAIC)

Bovine tuberculosis continues to affect farming and rural communities across the island of Ireland, and cases in cattle have risen in recent years despite long-standing control programmes. The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland have comparable cattle surveillance systems but differ in herd management and wildlife interventions. This offers a unique opportunity to compare how the disease spreads and which control strategies work.

🖥️ The role:

• Adapt a within-herd Mycobacterium bovis transmission model to both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland

• Simulate and compare control interventions

• Build an open-source R package for the modelling community

• Publish papers and policy reports, and support PhD students

🤝 The project:

BTB-MOSAIC (Bovine Tuberculosis: Modelling for Sustainable Control) is a joint, all-island initiative with a direct policy interface. It brings together UCD School of Veterinary Medicine, UCD School of Mathematics and Statistics, Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Limerick, the University of Cambridge, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland, and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in the Republic of Ireland.

🎯 Candidate profile:

• PhD in infectious disease epidemiology, statistics, applied maths, quantitative ecology or a related area

• Strong statistical and/or transmission modelling skills, with programming in R, C++ or similar

• Familiarity with veterinary medicine, farming or ecology

• Experience working in an interdisciplinary team

📌 Position:

• Two levels according to experience

- Level 1: early-career researchers, or those moving into a new field

- Level 2: researchers with 2–3 years of postdoc experience

• 📅 3 years (possibility to extend), starting Sept 2027 or as early as Jan 2027

• 🌍 Open to international applicants (work permit eligible)

⏳ Closing date: 11 November 2026

🔗 Apply: ucd.ie/workatucd/jobs (ref. 020155)

✉️ Informal enquiries: Dr Miriam Casey, miriam.casey@ucd.ie