Human Resources

Summary

The Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC) at Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech) aims to advance freshwater and coastal ocean research as a foundation for health, economic prosperity and global sustainability through interdisciplinary research cutting across Michigan Tech’s academic programs. The GLRC institute includes collaborative faculty from twelve disciplines within the Colleges of Engineering, Computing, Sciences and Arts, Business, and Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences. The GLRC seeks a Research Scientist II or III to fill a gap in computational genomics across campus.

The Research Scientist will be involved in many current and upcoming research projects and would also be expected to lead new projects specific to methods development, generating and analyzing new data to address environmental questions around biodiversity, environmental degradation, etc., or leveraging the increasing availability of publicly available genomic datasets to ask novel questions across large temporal and spatial scales. Building reproducible data analysis pipelines using machine learning and large language models is the future of computational bioinformatics and this researcher would be expected to build collaborations with faculty in the College of Computing and Mathematical Sciences as well.

Responsibilities and Essential Duties

1. Evaluate and apply bioinformatics approaches to environmental data.
2. Contribute technical expertise to sponsored research as both a project lead and team member.
3. Successfully grow a funded research program, to become self-supporting into the future.
4. Prepare and deliver reports or presentations of research projects/analysis results to project sponsors as appropriate.
5. Lead and contribute to the generation of proposals and external funding.
6. Apply safety-related knowledge, skills, and practices to everyday work.
7. Apply research security knowledge to data, facilities, and personnel.
8. Commit to learning about continuous improvement strategies and applying them to everyday work. Actively engage in University continuous improvement initiatives.
9. Apply safety-related knowledge, skills, and practices to everyday work.

Required Education, Certifications, Licensures

• Ph.D. in bioinformatics, computational biology, biological sciences, or similar related field.
• U.S. citizen or permanent resident with ability to obtain and maintain necessary government clearances and access.

Required Experience

• Experience developing reproducible bioinformatics analysis pipelines for environmental data.
• Successful track record of working in multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong record of scholarly productivity, including peer-reviewed publications, technical reports, or other research outputs.

Desirable Education and/or Experience

• Demonstrated leadership, project management, and mentoring experience in a research environment.
• Track record of successful major grant proposal authorship and execution.
• Rigorous graduate-level coursework in one or more programming languages and statistical courses, particularly with environmental or ecological data.
• Industry experience in the areas of interest, or similar areas.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and/or Abilities

• Strong programming skills with experience in one or more of the following programming languages/software: python, R, metagenomic pipelines such as DADA2, basic handling of high throughput sequencing data such as Samtools, GATK, statistical analysis tools for genetic associations, including mixed model platforms, multivariate models, and Bayesian approaches.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage diverse partners and represent the organization externally.
• Commitment to advancing Michigan Tech’s research mission and supporting a collaborative, inclusive research environment.

Desirable Knowledge, Skills, and/or Abilities

• Demonstrated ability to translate research into applied outcomes, including technology development, policy engagement, or industry partnerships.
• Demonstrated success in, or potential future contributions to, working with persons with a wide variety of backgrounds and viewpoints.

Work Environment and/or Physical Demands

Required Training and Other Conditions of Employment

Every employee at Michigan Technological University will receive the following training courses:
● Employee Safety Overview
● Annual Data Security Training
● Anti-Harassment, Discrimination, Retaliation Training
● Annual Title IX Training

Additional training will be required by the department on a periodic basis.

Background Check:
Offers of employment are contingent upon and not considered finalized until the required background check has been performed and the results received and assessed.

1.0

FLSA Status

Exempt

Appointment Term

12 months

Pay Rate/Salary

The minimum salary for this position is $65k. The final salary will depend on experience and qualifications.

Title of Position Supervisor

Assistant Director, Ecosystems Science Center

Posting Type

Dependent on Funding

Additional Information

This position is contingent upon the continued availability of external funding.