Computational Scientist
Chicago, IL

Job Description

Department86755 Research Computing Center

About the UnitThe University of Chicago Research Computing Center (RCC), a unit in the Office of Research and National Laboratories (RNL), provides high-end research computing resources to researchers at the University of Chicago. It is dedicated to enabling research by providing access to centrally managed High Performance Computing (HPC), storage, and visualization resources. These resources include hardware, software, high-level scientific and technical user support, and the education and training required to help researchers make full use of modern HPC technology and local and national supercomputing resources. The Office of Research and National Laboratories oversee the conduct of sponsored research, research program development, multi-institutional research institutes, national laboratory board, and contract management functions. RNL supports the development and coordination of research-related communications and educational programs at The University of Chicago. RNL oversees the management of two Department of Energy contracts for Argonne National Laboratory and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. When combined with the Lab R&D budgets, the office oversees approximately $1.4 billion in sponsored research. RNL works closely with individual scholars, departments, and divisions to encourage, seed, and coalesce research across the University, Argonne, and Fermilab campuses.

Job Information

Job Summary:

The Research Computing Center (RCC) seeks a highly motivated Computational Scientist to work closely with faculty and researchers in the Social Sciences Division (SSD) at The University of Chicago. The person in this position will serve as a technical domain expert, supporting and advising faculty on high-end computing and machine learning techniques for big data analysis in their research and grant writing. The Computational Scientist may also hold a concurrent Lecturer appointment in one of the SSD academic departments and teach up to two courses per year.

Responsibilities:

* Be a central knowledge resource for faculty and researchers in the Social Sciences Division (SSD), working closely with faculty in SSD to identify, develop, and implement useful computational methods and resources that advance their research.
* Assist in the development, implementation, and improvement of application software and methods that can be utilized in analyzing and interpreting data in the social sciences. Assist with compiling, debugging, optimizing, profiling and porting codes on RCC compute and storage resources.
* Design tutorials, hands-on workshops, and documentation for researchers and students in SSD with the help and coordination of other RCC staff. Organize seminars and meet-ups to expand and help bring together the community of computational researchers in SSD.
* Keep abreast of new developments in computational social sciences and be pro-active in introducing them to the faculty.
* Help faculty with grant proposals by contributing sections of the proposal that describe the interplay between their research and high-end computing resources.
* Assist researchers with data management implementations and compliance to funding agencies requirements.
* Dedicate a portion of time on research projects or activities for professional development, as approved.
* Other duties as assigned.

Competencies:

* Ability to understand and translate researchers' scientific goals into computational requirements.
* Ability to work well with faculty and researchers.
* Ability to identify and gain expertise in appropriate new technologies and/or software tools.
* Ability to function as part of an interactive team while demonstrating self-initiative to achieve project's goals and Research Computing Center's mission.
* Strong analytical skills and problem solving ability.

Additional Requirements

Education, Experience or Certifications:

Education:

* Ph.D. required, preferably in the fields of Sociology, Economics, Psychology, Political Science, or Computer Science (with experience applying computer science methodologies in the social sciences) required.

Experience:

* Experience applying computer science methodologies in a Social Sciences project or environment required.

Technical Knowledge or Skills:

* Proficiency with machine learning techniques and algorithms preferred.
* Must be able to understand and translate researchers' scientific goals into computational requirements required.
* Excellent communications and presentation skills required.
* Must be able to function as part of an interactive team while demonstrating self-initiative to achieve project's goals and research computing center's mission required.
* Broad programming skills to support analysis efforts in multiple programming environments required.
* Numerical computing experience using statistical programming packages, such as Python, Matlab or R required.
* Fluency in data manipulation and analysis required.
* Experience in a UNIX-based programing environment required.
* Proficiency with applied statistical skills, such as distributions, statistical testing, regression, etc. preferred.
* Experience in one or more programing languages (such as C++, C, Fortran, etc.) preferred.
* Experience with data visualization tools, such as D3 or GGplot preferred.
* Parallel computing experience with MPI and OpenMP preferred.
* Familiarity with Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods preferred.
* Exposure or experience in any of the following a plus: Hadoop, Pig, Hive, SQL coding, relational database structures and query techniques preferred.

Required Documents:

* Cover letter required
* Resume required

NOTE: When applying, all required documents MUST be uploaded under the Resume/CV section of the application.

Benefit EligibilityYes

Pay FrequencyMonthly

Pay RangeDepends on Qualifications

Scheduled Weekly Hours37.5

UnionNon-Union

Job is Exempt?Yes

Drug Test Required?No

Does this position require incumbent to operate a vehicle on the job?No

Health Screen Required?No

Posting Date2019-03-08-08:00

Remove from Posting On or Before2019-09-08-07:00

Posting Statement:

The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Staff Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

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