NII Recruitment 2026: PhD Candidates Invited for Research Associate-I Post Under DBT-Sponsored Project

The National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi, an autonomous research establishment under the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, has announced an opening for the contractual position of Research Associate-I. This vacancy is under the funded, time-bound scientific project entitled “Genome to Vaccine: Establishing a Immunological Database for India-Specific Disease therapeutics and prevention,” active through March 31, 2028.

Position Details & Key Highlights

Post Name: Research Associate-I (RA-I)
Vacancies: 01 (One)
Project Name: Genome to Vaccine: Establishing a Immunological Database for India-Specific Disease therapeutics and prevention
Funding Body: Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India
Principal Investigator (PI): Dr. Narendra Kumar, Staff Scientist-IV (imil@nii.ac.in)
Project Tenable Till: March 31, 2028
Consolidated Remuneration: ₹58,000 per month + 27% HRA (as per DST OM dated 26.06.2023)
Application Deadline: September 23, 2026

Educational Qualifications & Key Requirements

Essential Qualification: Ph.D. in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Systems Biology, Biophysics, or any closely related interdisciplinary branch centered on computation in life sciences.
Core Job Profile:
- Design, development, and ongoing maintenance of high-throughput computational platforms and immunology databases.
- Programming modular software components for biological data processing, integration, visualization, and mining.
- Constructing backend web services and REST APIs in Python.
- Building intuitive, responsive web interfaces for researcher access and database interaction.
Desirable Experience:
- Proven background in scientific software development within academic institutes, national research labs, or industrial R&D.
- Advanced Python programming skills; knowledge of Node.js or similar backend frameworks is an added advantage.
- Web frontend proficiency involving HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, Bootstrap, and modern frontend tools.
- Hands-on familiarity with Python web frameworks such as Flask or Django.
- Solid command of Linux operating systems, deployment pipelines, and server-side operations.
- Practical expertise in handling large omics datasets, macromolecular structural data, and sequence libraries.
- Experience setting up AI/ML-ready data workflows, preprocessing pipelines, and model integration.
- Working knowledge of Git, version control mechanisms, and software lifecycle methodologies.

Terms, Conditions & Submission Guidelines

Engagement Period: Purely temporary on contract, renewed on an annual basis or for the project’s duration, whichever concludes earlier.
Accommodation & Allowances: No official hostel or housing accommodation is provided by the institute. No TA/DA will be admissible for attending the interview.
Application Fee: Shortlisted candidates appearing for the interview must submit a ₹100 fee via Demand Draft (drawn on Canara Bank/Indian Bank in favour of “Director, NII”, payable at Delhi/New Delhi) or digital transfer (A/C Name: Director, NII | A/C No: 1484101001636 | IFSC: CNRB0001484). SC, ST, PH, and female candidates are exempt upon providing valid documentation.
How to Apply: Applicants must submit their application strictly in the prescribed format directly to imil@nii.ac.in on or before September 23, 2026. The email submission must feature the project title, candidate contact details, and a complete Curriculum Vitae documenting technical proficiencies, research publications, and the names of three referees.