$85,000 per year or higher depending on experience
Type of Appointment
Fiscal Year
FTE
1
Full Time/Part Time
Full Time
Position Overview
The Computational Scientist will be a part of a new initiative in Computational One Health at the University of Idaho. Computational One Health is a widely adopted framework that views human, wildlife, and livestock health as an integrated system. We seek to add four new hires to our Computational One Health team: A Computational Scientist (this position), a Data Scientist, a Computational Data Scientist (Machine Learning / Artificial Intelligence (AI) focus), and a Bioinformatics Data Scientist. This position will complement and strengthen our Computational One Health team by providing expertise in large scale simulations and developing efficient and scalable computational simulations of biological phenomena. This expertise is critical for the analysis and forecasting components of One Health and will rely on the data streams provided by the Bioinformatics Data Scientist and Data Scientist positions in this cluster. Â
The Computational Scientist will develop large scale simulations and related software to analyze and forecast the risk of animal-borne infectious diseases and the effectiveness of potential interventions. This position will collaborate with faculty and researchers within the Institute for Interdisciplinary Data Sciences (IIDS) Research Computing and Data Services (RCDS) core facility, as well as faculty and researchers across campus. Duties of this position will include assisting to develop and lead research projects as a Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-PI including writing grant proposals, managing projects, compiling, analyzing, and maintaining associated data, and publishing papers in peer-reviewed journals. This position will employ strong communication skills in a highly collaborative team environment to accomplish shared goals.
Unit Overview
The Institute for Interdisciplinary Data Sciences (IIDS) is a research institute within the Office of Research and Economic Development (ORED) at the University of Idaho. The mission of IIDS is to empower researchers to fully harness the potential of the data revolution by provisioning and administering critical University research infrastructure related to genomics, bioinformatics, research computing, and data science. IIDS houses three service units including Research Computing and Data Services (RCDS), the Genomics and Bioinformatics Resources Core (GBRC), and the Initiative for Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Studies (IBEST) and is a vibrant home for interdisciplinary research for student, postdoc, and faculty participants. IIDS participants can access expertise and infrastructure, support for proposal development and grants management, and training and professional development activities. Â
Funding
This position is contingent upon the continuation of work and/or funding.
A visa sponsorship is available for the position listed in this vacancy.
Uncertain
Internal Posting?
Position Responsibilities
Key Accountability
Conducting and supporting collaborative team science in Computational One Health by:
Job Duties
Providing all aspects of design, programming, testing, and implementation of new and existing simulation models and related software to analyze and forecast the risk of animal-borne infectious diseases and the effectiveness of potential interventions.
Independently troubleshooting and correcting models and related software.
Effectively communicating (verbally and in writing) modeling techniques and results to collaborators and trainees.
Communicating research findings through publications in peer-reviewed journals, online repositories that document code used in simulations or analyses (e.g., GitHub), and through presentations.
Mentoring and facilitating undergraduate and graduate research.
Integrating models and software with existing and new databases.
Engaging (as PI or Co-PI) with researchers on research plan development.
Developing (as PI or Co-PI) research proposals to federal, state, and private agencies and foundations.
Key Accountability
Contribute to research teams across campus by:
Job Duties
Collaborating with other researchers to resolve complex computational problems and implement appropriate solutions.
Collaborating with laboratory and field colleagues to facilitate, optimize, and troubleshoot computational applications.
Contributing to a collaborative and congenial team environment with other research groups across campus such as CAFE and IMCI, as well as activities such as seminars, workshops, retreats, core meetings, and other associated meetings.
Writing annual reports as required by research grants and contracts.
Collaborating with the RCDS team to identify priority technical initiatives that support the institution’s strategic plan as it applies to research, research computing, and data management.
Innovating, designing, developing, deploying, and maintaining modular software systems and related technologies to support interactive data management, visualization, and dissemination for the UI research community.
Collaborating with university staff and internal/external partners to develop and integrate new services, tools, and products into the core IIDS IT architecture.
Customizing and adapting applications and databases as needed to meet evolving partner and user-community requirements.
Consulting with potential scientific collaborators on a technical level to match their scientific needs with possible technical solutions. (i.e., propose core research computing architectures or specific applications where possible and provide other solutions if core architecture is not an option).
Serving as the point-of-contact for assigned funded projects and as a support representative to manage and resolve technical issues encountered by collaborators and other users (e.g., provide technical support for collaborators by researching, developing, and implementing innovative web/mobile based solutions that satisfy their needs).
Providing and coordinating technical support as needed via email, phone, Teams, Slack, Zoom, and other methods.
Key Accountability
Continue professional development by:
Job Duties
Maintaining current knowledge of programming, computational science, and methods of data analysis and machine learning.
Reviewing and keeping abreast of current scientific literature.
Actively participating in relevant professional societies and organizations.
Providing professional service to the broader research community including serving as an independent reviewer for journal manuscripts and funding proposals.
Disseminating results by publication in peer-reviewed journals.
Developing scientific collaborations and relationships (e.g., attending meetings and research conferences, seminars, and working with committees).
Required Experience
At least 3 years demonstrated experience related to the domain of this position:
Translating complex scientific problems into a computational paradigm by developing new models, algorithms, and analyses.
Working with scientific programming languages (e.g., C/C++, Python, R, MATLAB).
Working with and visualizing geospatial data.
Working directly with diverse teams to design and implement scientific software.
Interpreting and communicating technical concepts to a broad audience.
Work independently by prioritizing effort to meet project deadlines and deliverables.
Leading software development projects from beginning to end, including specification, design, implementation, documentation, testing and deployment.
Required Education
PhD in Computer Science/Engineering, Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Biology, Geography, or related field.
Required Licensures, Certifications or other
Additional Preferred
Demonstrated experience with:
Designing, implementing, and using web service APIs.
Working with web application frameworks such as Python Flask or Django.
Using, parsing, and constructing JSON and/or XML.
Using the Linux operating system.
Designing and developing databases and database-driven applications.
Working in team-based software development environments using version control systems such as git/GitHub, Subversion, etc.
Scientific data management and analysis, especially with geospatial (GIS) data.
High Performance Computing (HPC) environments, including writing highly parallelizable software for HPC clusters using MPI, multi-threading, or similar approaches.
Machine learning frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, or Sci-kit Learn.
Mapping and visualization libraries such as D3, ggplot2, matplotlib, Plotly, Leaflet, Chart.js, or Highcharts.
Physical Requirements
Working Conditions
Degree Requirement
Listed degree qualification is required at time of application.
Posting Date
01/21/2022
Closing Date
Open Until Filled
Yes
Special Instructions to Applicants
The first consideration date for applications is 2/7/2022.
Background Check Statement
Applicants who are selected as final possible candidates must be able to pass a criminal background check.
EEO Statement
The University of Idaho (U of I) is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer committed to assembling a diverse, broadly trained faculty and staff. Women, minorities, people with disabilities and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. In compliance with applicable laws and in furtherance of its commitment to fostering an environment that welcomes and embraces diversity, U of I does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, disability, genetic information or status as any protected veteran or military status in its programs or activities, including employment, admissions and educational programs.
Applicant Documents
Required Documents
Resume/CV
Cover Letter/Letter of Application
Optional Documents
Supplemental Questions
Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).
*
How did you hear about this employment opportunity?
Academic Keys
Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU)
Chronicle of Higher Education
Craig's List
Department of Labor/Job Service including Job Central or Idaho Works
Facebook
Higheredjobs.com
Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (HERC)
Indeed.com
LinkedIn
National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (website)
Newspaper
Professional Listservs (Ex: NACUBO, AAAE, ISMC, etc.)
