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info@nescent.org

Employment Opportunities at NESCent

Summer Intern -- Dryad Data Repository

The National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) seeks a summer intern to assist in the development of the Dryad data repository (http://datadryad.org). The focus of this position will be on improving the process for submitting data to the repository.

Tasks will include:

  • Re-configure the submission process to be simpler and more
    consistent with the workflow of Dryad submitters.
  • Modify the submission process to allow submission of
    multiple data files associated with a single metadata description.
  • Write and test scripts for automatically moving content between
    various locations in the repository.
  • Based on email messages containing descriptions of publications,
    automatically create user accounts and initial metadata records in
    the repository.

Requirements:

  • 3 or more years programming experience.
  • Thorough knowledge of Java. Knowledge of Java Servlet technology
    (including Tomcat) is a plus.
  • Knowledge of Unix shell scripting.
  • Thorough knowledge of HTML, some experience with CSS.
  • Knowledge of XML, some experience with XSLT.

To apply:
Send resume and contact information to the Data Repository Architect, Ryan Scherle.

 

Summer Training Opportunity for Graduate Students or Postdocs in Data Curation and Informatics


The Phenoscape project is a pioneering effort in the use of ontologies to relate traditional character descriptions from fish evolutionary studies to zebrafish genetics and mutant phenotypes.
We have summer funding for graduate students and postdocs interested in gaining expertise in informatics and the application of ontologies to evolutionary, anatomical, developmental, and genetic data.  Opportunities are available to work with our personnel in data curation using ontologies (at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, or at the University of South Dakota) or in database and application programming (at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, http://nescent.org).
Stipends of $5,000 will be given to participating students to cover travel, room and board for 12 weeks (a shorter term of 10 weeks is possible). To apply, please provide the information below via email (in Word or PDF format) to Dr. Paula Mabee (pmabee@usd.edu) before March 15, 2008.  Funding decisions will be made by April 1.

Required information:

  1. Cover sheet with your name, current status (grad or postdoc), institutional affiliation and research supervisor, dates of proposed exchange, and a summary (150 word maximum) describing the relevance of the internship opportunity to your research.
  2. A brief description (1 page maximum) of your current research, its goals, and an indication of where you are in your research time line.  Please provide some details of the type of training that you already have experience with (e.g., morphology, paleontology, molecular/developmental biology, informatics, computer science).
  3. A curriculum vitae no longer than 2 pages listing educational background (including relevant coursework), work experience, publications, and presentations.
  4. A letter of recommendation from your advisor, and the names and contact information of two other reference

Reporting Requirement:

Recipients will be expected to submit a 1-page report describing the accomplishments and value of the training within one month after the end of the internship.

Further inquiries about the position may be directed to Dr. Mabee by email, or by phone at (605) 677-6171.

NESCent, the Academy of Natural Sciences, and the University of South Dakota are equal opportunity employers. Applications from women and underrepresented minorities are specifically encouraged. PhenoScape is committed to releasing all software code as open source.

Sr. Bioinformatics Programmer, Databases and Middleware

The National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) seeks a highly motivated Bioinformatics Programmer responsible for design, implementation, and maintenance of databases and surrounding software used by both evolutionary biology researchers and educators, and by NESCent administration. The position is within the Center’s informatics team.

NESCent’s Informatics program offers a vibrant environment with ample opportunities to interact and work closely with a wide array of researchers in evolutionary biology and related disciplines. Aside from supporting the IT needs of the Center administration, the group provides visiting and resident scientists with cutting-edge electronic collaboration infrastructure and software engineering capabilities ranging from modern multi-tiered applications with highly interactive user interfaces to sound data models with integrated semantics. In addition, the Center’s Informatics program pursues an ambitious agenda of cyberinfrastructure initiatives to promote interoperability, data and service integration, and open development among the evolutionary biology community. Above all, we are enthusiastic about our work, the stimulating atmosphere at the Center, and the potential of informatics to enable more and better science.

Job Description:

The incumbent will work within the Center’s informatics team with other software developers and system support staff, and collaborate with scientists visiting or resident at the Center as well as other Center staff. The responsibilities of the job range from designing data models, to architecting and implementing server-side middleware, service-oriented APIs, and managing data flow. The incumbent will gather requirements from scientists, Center staff, and collaborating developers and translate these into functional and technical specifications; analyze, design, develop, maintain, document, and test new and existing database schemas, object models, APIs, and software; use and contribute to existing and emerging standards; create technical documentation, present work at scientific meetings, and contribute to scientific publications. The incumbent will also collaborate with the Assistant Director of Informatics and Center Leadership to advise of priorities, problems and proposed solutions; to assist in setting priorities and goals for scientific database support, to structure development with respect to specific timelines and milestones, and to make decisions required to create and deploy database applications.

Required Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree (M.S. or Ph.D. preferred) in biology, computer science, or related field.  Four or more years of significant experience in designing and implementing database and database-interfacing technology, or an equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
  • Experienced in the use of major relational database management systems (preferably PostgreSQL).
  • Knowledge of relational data modeling, and proven experience with translating domain models into normalized relational schemas.
  • Thorough command of SQL, including DDL, and understanding of advanced elements of SQL (e.g., sub-queries, views, integrity enforcement)
  • Knowledge of and experience with object-relational mapping technologies, preferably in Java (e.g., CMP, JDO, Hibernate). Demonstrated ability to architect, design, and implement object models and middleware on top of databases (preferably in Java).
  • Proven team orientation, and outstanding interpersonal and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

The ideal candidate has a rigorous background in software engineering best practices, and has demonstrated the ability to independently and collaboratively manage the entire life cycle of projects involving multiple scientific stakeholders. In addition, the ideal candidate has demonstrated deep knowledge as well as current awareness in emerging trends in one or more of the following areas:

  • Advanced database technologies such as SQL server-side programming (e.g., database triggers, PL/SQL, PL/pgSQL) and data warehousing (OLAP, Data Marts).
  • Elements of the semantic web (such as DL, RDF, OWL, ontologies, reasoning, software agents) and service-oriented software architecture (SOA) (such as Web Services, SOAP, REST, RMI).
  • Evolutionary Biology or a related field.

The demonstrated ability to contribute to scholarly publications is highly desirable.

How to Apply:

Please send cover letter, resume, and the contact information for three references to the Asst. Director of Informatics, Hilmar Lapp (hlapp@nescent.org). Further inquiries about the position may be directed to Mr. Lapp by email, or by phone at +1-919-668-5288.