Research Scientist- University of Washington

The University of Washington (UW) is proud to be one of the nation’s premier educational and research institutions. Our people are the most important asset in our pursuit of achieving excellence in education, research, and community service. Our staff not only enjoys outstanding benefits and professional growth opportunities, but also an environment noted for diversity, community involvement, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits, and natural beauty.

The UW eScience Institute’s mission is to engage researchers across disciplines in developing and applying advanced techniques and technologies to real-world problems in data-intensive science. With a newly announced grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, we are significantly advancing our mission.

The Institute seeks outstanding researchers with demonstrated accomplishments in at least one area of the physical, life, or social sciences **AND** at least one area related to data science (machine learning, statistics, databases, large-scale data systems, visualization). These are interdisciplinary research roles that seek to advance the state of the art in both the techniques and technologies of data science, and the fields that depend on them.

eScience Research Scientists will both plan and execute research programs in collaboration with eScience affiliate faculty, through eScience leadership, and through independent research programs. Candidates will have ample opportunity to publish their results and pursue external funding, and will also be called on to participate in Institute programs involving software development, technical consulting, workshops and training, and other activities designed to advance the research and practice of data-driven and data-intensive discovery across fields.

Successful candidates will have a demonstrated record of independent and interdisciplinary research, and have the potential to successfully pursue external funding.

Research scientists may be offered a 12-month startup period of 100{06fdc68f0c32a4bb4bc587245a8893a97471dc602b4e431d14a97651d507d6d7} funding, with the expectation they secure external funding after this period either by partnering with other PIs or by establishing their own grants. After the startup period, funding from the Institute will typically be 25{06fdc68f0c32a4bb4bc587245a8893a97471dc602b4e431d14a97651d507d6d7} to 50{06fdc68f0c32a4bb4bc587245a8893a97471dc602b4e431d14a97651d507d6d7}, but is negotiable on a case-by-case basis. Research scientists will typically hold a joint appointment and an office in a home department on campus (e.g. physical, life or social sciences). This appointment will typically be negotiated separately.

In addition to the above, Specific eScience responsibilities include:
• Act as liaison for eScience within their home department (communicating results, advertising events, attracting participants for eScience programs, giving talks, etc.)
• Pursue and help contribute to external funding opportunities.
• Publish results in appropriate venues, preferably jointly with collaborators outside the candidate’s own area of expertise.
• Participate in Institute sponsor reporting and annual retreat activities.
• Contribute domain expertise and/or technical expertise to collaborative eScience software projects.
• Strive to release software and results open source, help ensure scientific reproducibility of all results, and contribute to a “culture of reproducibility” across campus.
• Help review and evaluate potential projects for technical merit and feasibility.
• Occasionally organize and conduct workshops and training events for scientists and engineers in data science techniques and technologies.
• Advance long-term collaborations with established partners through joint research engagements.
• Prepare and deliver presentations on significant results, both internally and externally, representing the eScience Institute as well as specific projects.
• Participate in national and international workshops in relevant areas; influence the national discussion on data science.
• Develop web materials communicating significant results, best practices and case studies with specific technologies, and documentation for significant software.
• Help advance a reputation outside of UW for excellence in data science methods and practice, contributing to the Institute’s overall portfolio of successful projects.

** We are actively seeking candidates at all levels of seniority **

• Education/Experience will determine level of position and salary, with a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree plus 3 years of experience.
• Degree required in the life, physical, or social sciences, computer science, statistics or applied math.
• Demonstrated experience communicating results through writing and presentations, both in and out of one’s own discipline.
• Demonstrated experience in application of data science techniques and technologies (machine learning, statistics, databases, large-scale data systems, visualization) in science contexts.
• Demonstrated ability to interact in a collaborative manner with other team members to accomplish organizational goals. Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.
• PhD in appropriate field of life, physical, or social sciences or methodology disciplines (computer science, statistics, applied math, or other information field)
• Experience participating in open source software development and significant contributions to open source projects.
• Successful collaboration outside one’s own field, as evidenced by joint publications, joint grants, and collaborative software development.

Please refer to the online advertisement for complete details:
https://uwhires.admin.washington.edu/eng/candidates/default.cfm?szCategory=jobprofile&szOrderID=106113
Posting is open until filled.

Tyler H. McCormick
Assistant Professor
Department of Statistics
Department of Sociology
University of Washington